Harmony of a Moonlit Sky
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Usagi isn't the girl everyone believes she is, and after a visit to her future is given a rude wake up call. It's time to cast aside her civilian identity and reclaim the one she abandoned to survive. Will the Sailor Scouts and the Mafia be able to handle the her return as well as that of her favorite uncle, or will everything go up in a blaze of glory?
1. Rewriting the Future

It was an innocent question, at least in the minds of everyone save the one who asked it.

Sailor Moon asked about an amusement part she once visited when she was younger with her family that was on a moving island.

King Endymion thought nothing of giving her a straight answer.

" _Mafia Land was wiped off the map by a tidal wave, taking with it most of the resistance to the laws against crime."_

Endymion didn't really see it, but Sailor Moon stiffened almost immediately.

"And what of the survivors?"

 _"The last vestiges of those against our rule, the Vongola and the Varia, were either killed or sent to Nemesis. They, along with their allies were the last pockets of crime before our peaceful society came to be,"_ he answered.

"And Neo Queen Serenity _agreed_ with how you destroyed them," asked Sailor Moon in a flat voice.

Tuxedo Kamen might be in love with Sailor Moon, but even he could feel the rather massive outpouring of feminine fury coming off his girlfriend. Even Venus was discreetly getting out of range of Sailor Moon's anger.

She was _pissed_ about something, but they couldn't think of what.

" _Neo Queen Serenity was properly horrified by the loss of life, but eventually calmed down about the matter."_

The fury turned positively glacial. She turned to look at Tuxedo Kamen, who narrowly avoided flinching at how furious she looked.

"So just to be clear, you honestly believe my future self accepted your open condemnation of the mafia and the Families, much less forgave you for destroying Mafia Land."

King Endymion either didn't notice or took the fury coming off her for granted... but Tuxedo Kamen could tell just by looking at her that there was no way Sailor Moon would have ever accepted his actions. He winced.

Somehow he had the feeling this was going to backfire on him long after they returned to their time. And it would be big.

When they returned to the past, his feeling remains as strong as ever. Even Venus was giving Sailor Moon a wide berth.

* * *

Unknown to them (and the two cats, who were staying with Minako until Usagi properly calmed down) Usagi did _not_ let the news that the mafia was wiped off the map by her current boyfriend and future husband. In fact she was downright furious he dared to do something like that and expect her to be okay with it.

If Luna had seen what she pulled out from under her bed, she would have been shocked and very confused.

Two holsters were slipped onto her legs until they rested under her skirts. She opened them and slipped a pair of black and red guns into them, after making sure they were in proper working order and the safety was on.

It was weird, putting them on again after having Luna in her room for so long, but they gave her a sense of comfort she had forgotten about.

If marrying Mamoru was going to cause that much damage and lead to so much heartache when he didn't know the full story, then it was clear she needed to perform some long overdue damage control and fix his blatant error.

Starting with using a power she had almost forgotten about after becoming a literal magical girl. She was already making plans to get either an upgrade or at the very least reconnect with certain contacts overseas.

It was time she stopped playing the civilian and started acting like a proper daughter of that family.

Being kidnapped sucked, but at least Diamond missed the two guns strapped firmly under her Senshi outfit. For some reason they were unaffected by the transformation, unlike the rest of her clothes.

Likely because the holster and the guns themselves were made from specially treated material.

Once she broke free of his control, the first thing she did was open the holster on her right side and draw the gun. A bright crimson "X" on black metal shined in the limited light.

Diamond froze, his eyes staring at the weapon.

This was not some frilly magical girl wand that took forever to charge up and use. This was an honest-to-god weapon designed to kill, and he _recognized_ this particular gun.

"Where did you obtain that?"

"I stole them from CEDEF shortly after their proper owner was iced," said Usagi crossly. "Iemitsu didn't deserve them."

Diamond's shock was palpable.

"You know the Vongola, the family that was once allied to ours?"

" _Which Familigia do you hail from?"_ she replied in perfect Italian.

" _Callavone,"_ replied Diamond.

Usagi slowly lowered the gun.

" _Use your Mist Flame against me again and next time I will shoot you, allied Familigia or not. You're not the first fool I've shot with these, and you won't be the last,"_ said Usagi.

Diamond's once infatuated eyes grew hard.

"Prove it," he said in Japanese.

Usagi channeled her flames, which burned merrily on her forehead and turned her eyes an orange color for as long as they were active. Diamond looked ready to collapse in shock.

"A Sky flame... Why did you allow Endymion to cast us out?" he asked.

"Believe me, I intend to cut ties from that idiot the first chance I get once this mess is firmly settled. I refuse to marry someone stupid enough to destroy my family and expect me to forgive him for it. Which probably explains why I only had one child with him, instead of the large family I planned on," said Usagi frostily.

No way was she marrying Mamoru now, and since she found out he was stupid enough to kill her Family and destroy Mafia Land without even asking her opinion on the matter, she had reconsidered him as a 'husband' candidate.

Reincarnated true love or not, there were some things a girl simply couldn't forgive.

Besides, why would she marry a guy who's main ability in a pathetic battle like the almost weekly monster attacks was to throw roses and used a cane (without a sword, unfortunately) as a distraction?

Usagi found herself with a shell-shocked Diamond and a disbelieving Sapphire.

When Wiseman dared to show his 'face', she proved once and for all that she was _not_ the same Queen they were used to dealing with.

Neo Queen Serenity was firmly a pacifist who didn't believe in killing unless there were no other options.

Usagi, now that she was warned of the dangers of keeping up her civilian facade would lead to, was firmly a believer of ending a threat with as much violence as possible.

Ironically, Dying Will Flames and whatever power Wise Man survived on did _not_ agree with each other. Especially since hers seemed to be augmented with the purifying power of the Ginzuisho.

Diamond and Sapphire were the only survivors of the Black Moon clan. Chibiusa didn't know how to feel when she stumbled upon them later.

Usagi was not an idiot, nor did she allow people to walk all over her like King Endymion did with his wife.

If they were part of the last remaining Mafia of Crystal Tokyo, then she might as well _use_ them to her advantage. Her contacts in that side of the world were unacceptably low. There was no reason not to use them as her main contacts and sources of information.

It certainly saved on her allowance, at least.

In the meantime, one of her contingency plans was finally put into action. It was one she had hoped not to use, at least not without several back ups in place.

She was going to try and contact the Varia, to see if Xanxus was out of the ice. She'd heard unconfirmed rumors that the "Varia Boss" was back.

If that was the case, he'd want his guns returned.

* * *

Usagi waited a week, before 'finding' something in the mail that made her squeal loudly and get the attention of her family.

"Kaa-san, I won the contest!"

"Contest?"

Usagi brandished four tickets to Florence, Italy, explaining how she had 'entered' a random magazine contest and won the grand prize. Ikuko brightened at the idea of a two-week vacation in Italy.

And her 'father' was about due for some vacation time as well.

"EH?! You won a two-week vacation to Italy?!" was the outcry of the other Senshi.

"I entered a contest and they sent the tickets. Mama got our passports renewed, so we can go by next week at the earliest. It's going to be our family vacation for the year," said Usagi.

She made no sign that she was lying through her teeth about 'winning' some contest. Not that they'd figure it out, considering Minako had borrowed plenty of her manga magazines and there were some adverts carefully cut out for just this reason.

"Just make sure you get on the right plane. I won a trip to Hawaii once, and we accidentally ended up going to Greece instead," said Minako seriously.

Hadn't that been a mess and a half?

"Make sure to brush up on your Italian. Not very many people speak Japanese," said Ami.

Usagi grinned.

" _Why would I need to brush up on it?"_ she asked in passable Italian. The girls stared at her in shock. "I've always wanted to go to Italy, and taking a course on how to speak the language kept Mama from cutting my allowance for a year since I got decent grades in the class."

"It sounds like fun," said Makoto, sighing.

"I'll be sure to bring plenty of treats for you to try and experiment with," said Usagi. A few Mist flames would keep the customs agents from banning them. "But I don't think we'll be able to find a hotel that allows pets, so it is okay if Luna stays with you?"

"Of course!" said Minako cheerfully.

"Be sure to take plenty of pictures!" said Makoto.

"It'll probably be mostly me and Shungo. I plan to give Mama and Papa an overdue second honeymoon for a few days. They could use it," said Usagi.

A few bribes in the form of some new video games and a new console would keep her brother preoccupied, and a Mist copy would deal with any awkward questions of where she was.

She picked the town closest to the Varia headquarters and she fully planned to force one of them to either send Xanxus or have them bring her to it personally.

They'd definitely hear her out when they found out she had his missing X-Guns. Or at the very least send someone that knew him personally enough to get a call to him.

Usagi took one breath of the air outside the plane and was immediately hit with a sense of nostalgia. Japan was great, but this felt exactly like home.

Now to arrange a meeting with the head of the Varia.

Her parents took the idea of a second honeymoon (with Usagi swearing on her allowance to keep an eye on Shungo for three days) as quickly as she had hoped, and Shungo wasn't really interested in seeing the sights right away after she handed him the latest portable game console and several games she knew would have his interest. It would keep him occupied for at least a few days, especially with room service and her ability to get past the block on the adult only channels.

Once everyone in her family was occupied and not really paying attention to her, Usagi put the rest of her plan into motion.

Namely the hazardous task of contacting the Varia directly. Thank the gods for Diamond somehow managing to get into the group and pay off the Mist Officer. Mammon Esper was extremely expensive, but at least held up their end of the agreement once paid.

Usagi took a deep breath, then dialed the number a safe distance from the hotel using a disposable cell phone.

" _Who is this and how did you get this number?"_ demanded the other end in Italian.

She recognized the voice of Xanxus immediately. She could only hope he recognized her just as quick.

" _If you want your X-Guns back, you'll agree to meet with me personally. Whether in your stronghold or in an open area is up to you, and don't even think of sending one of your goons to pick them up. I'll know the difference,"_ she replied in the same language, her tone flat and allowing no room for argument.

If she wanted him to take her seriously, then she would have to treat this like any other deal with a fellow mafia family. She couldn't afford to keep her air-head disguise up around him.

" _...Where do I send the car?"_ he asked.

So he was bringing her to Varia headquarters. It would make disposing of her simple.

She gave him an address at a cafe four blocks from where she was, and would wait for two hours before leaving a message for a second pick-up if it came to that.

Xanxus had little patience for games, so the odds of him not following through were unlikely. Especially since she _did_ have his guns and wasn't afraid to use them.

An hour and a half later, a car drove up with a familiar face inside. They drove to the Varia HQ with him shooting her foul looks, likely because she was obscured in a Mist illusion of a white cloak that hid most of her face. The unintended resemblance to Mammon, the Varia Mist Officer, was very strong.

Squalo lead her to an elevator, ignoring the mooks around him. He kept his good hand on his sword, ready to kill her at the first sign of a problem. The only reason she wasn't dead was because she proved she had the genuine weapons that had gone missing shortly after Xanxus was sealed in ice.

There was a tense silence in the elevator, and it only grew worse as they drew nearer to the room where Xanxus was waiting.

The door opened and for a split second, the killing intent was so thick you could cut it with a knife...or a very large sword, in Squalo's case.

Usagi barely repressed a massive grin, and it took Squalo five seconds to realize there was a 'hole' where the girl he had been escorting was. And another two to realize his Boss was being hugged by a _very_ enthusiastic blond teenager with the most bizarre cry he had ever heard.

"Hi Uncle Xanxus~!"

Dead silence. Killing intent was immediately replaced with shock and outright confusion from everyone save the blond girl.

Xanxus held her at arm's length, took a good long look at her face, before slowly asking in a voice Squalo had never heard from his Sky before in his life...

"Little Moon?"

She beamed at him.

"You remember me!" she said happily. If he wasn't holding her back she definitely would have hugged him again.

Xanxus shot his Rain a dirty look.

"I thought you told me she lost her memories."

Usagi scoffed.

"Like I wouldn't have the brains to fake an accident and 'lose' my memories to get away from the stupidity of Nono, my mother and that moron Iemitsu the first chance I had after your fake coup," she said flatly.

"What."

Xanxus did not look pleased.

"Mama kept pressuring me with these half-assed Guardians who belonged to her 'friends', all of whom were boys that were more interested in joining the family by any means possible. And you know Grandfather favors that idiot Iemitsu, who wouldn't have hesitated to throw _me_ under the bus in regards to the candidacy of Decimo just to keep his son Tsunayoshi out of it. So I faked an accident, pretended to lose my memories and kept under the radar as a civilian to avoid the in-fighting."

Xanxus snorted, before patting Usagi on the head.

"That's my Little Moon."

Her mother had been a harpy of the highest order and wouldn't have thought twice about her daughter ending up pregnant from an early age by one of her "guardians". The idiot woman had no idea what the position actually meant and was only a member of the family because the idiot Enrico got her pregnant.

His daughter had clearly inherited the brains of her great grandmother Daniela, because the first chance she had at the boring parties the family hosted, she had attached herself to Xanxus who kept the worst of the idiots away. The idea of her faking an accident and the resulting amnesia wasn't that far fetched at all.

"And the guns?" he asked.

She reached under her skirt and pulled out two familiar guns from leg-holsters. He approved immediately, especially when he sensed a decent Mist illusion over them.

"That moron Iemitsu didn't deserve to keep them, never mind he was stupid enough to have _these_ made along with keeping his check book in an unlocked drawer," said Usagi derisively. She pulled out a stamp with the "signature" of Iemitsu Sawada, along with his check book and an extra set of keys to CEDEF.

Xanxus had a vicious smirk on his face.

"That's my favorite niece. So why come back now?"

Usagi winced.

"I got a major wake up call of what would happen if I kept my civilian disguise, especially if I continued dating this one loser who thinks _roses_ are an acceptable weapon in low-level fights and who's only decent weapon is a cane that doesn't even have a sword hidden inside."

"...Ten Year Bazooka?" he asked.

"Something close enough to it. I was not happy finding out that the idiot walked all over me and almost wiped the Family off the map because he didn't like the idea of a mafia."

Humanity couldn't gain anything without sacrifice, and that peaceful utopia came at a devastating cost. It wasn't a crime-free Utopian society as much as a tyranny hiding under the disguise of a monarchy kept in place by long term brainwashing.

"Boss, you actually believe her?" asked Squalo incredulous.

Xanxus fixed a glare at him, and he winced.

"I know my favorite niece anywhere, and only she would have the balls to completely ignore my killing intent long enough to actually _hug_ me, never mind actually daring to blackmail me with my own weapons and allow me to pick where the exchange would go down."

That and he recognized her very distinct Flames the second she hugged him. It was hard to forget the rather strange feel of her Sky.


	2. Changing the Rules

As it turned out, Xanxus had already started to replace his missing weapons since there was no lead on where they vanished to. And he didn't mind letting his favorite niece keep his old ones, once he adapted them for her use only.

Finding out his little Moon had grown up to become Quality was a pleasant surprise, and that Cloud Officer had been annoying him greatly with his simpering.

Usagi was just happy to drop her 'civilian' act as a stereotypical dumb blond with an annoying habit of being a klutz who cried a lot.

She felt her brain cells die a little inside every time she had to use it to deflect attention off her activities. No one every suspected the whiny blond ditz of being a threat.

Xanxus was more than happy to 'fund' the upgrade of his old guns for his favorite (and only) niece by shamelessly abusing the stamp and checkbook she had stolen from CEDEF right before she was 'removed' to a civilian life. She was still a candidate for the title of Decimo, but she was skipped over in favor of Tsunayoshi because of the accident. Thanks to her 'civilian' persona, the odds of her being selected before him were relatively low.

Besides, she liked the idea of taking over the Varia from Xanxus more than leading the Family anyway.

Before the three days were up (with her Mist clone successfully keeping her family in the dark of the fact she wasn't keeping an eye on her little brother) Xanxus gave her two new guns and a set of hair pins since she favored the twin tail look.

She had avoided putting them up in the familiar "odango" style to separate her real self from the civilian act she put up. At least now she had an idea of why she could pull off that look, even if Neo Queen Serenity was someone she very much would like to avoid becoming.

There was no way that her future self could possibly be happy with Endymion as her husband after what he did, and what limited knowledge she got from Chibiusa before she went back to her own time didn't exactly paint a happy family.

Usagi wanted a big family, and all she had was Chibiusa. Clearly something had happened, and after visiting the future she now had an idea of what.

The new guns were more of a silvery color than the pitch black and blood red they were before. Where there were once crimson "X" emblazoned on the side were now a pair of burnt orange crescent moons with pearl-colored wings that had a bit of a prism effect when under proper lighting. The handle was just the right size for her hand and much easier to grasp. But the biggest change had to be the bullet chamber.

There was a revolver-style chamber that held seven bullets, and there was a different color whenever a certain bullet was loaded into the firing position. It was all colors of the rainbow, from red to orange to yellow to green to blue to indigo and finally into purple. Each section had a different colored bullet, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why they were in separate holes.

They were all the colors of Dying Will Flames, with each section colored so she knew which bullet to put inside.

Closer inspection of the bottom of the handle revealed a whimsical rabbit on the bottom. Xanxus had been endlessly amused by her new "name" in the civilian side.

Usagi squealed and hugged him tightly. She loved her new weapons, and couldn't wait to bring some cold reality to the idiots who kept coming after her for some shiny bauble.

"You do realize that now I know you never lost your memories, I'm going to be sending people into your town to keep an eye on you."

"So long as they don't blow my cover, I don't particularly care. My contacts with the underworld are almost nonexistent, and this means I get to visit Mafia Land again," said Usagi.

"Speaking of..." started Xanxus.

"Yes, the new Mist with the weird third eye is one of mine. He paid off Mammon for me so I could contact you directly," said Usagi.

"Good."

The guy known as "Diamond" gave him a weird feeling, so knowing he was one of Usagi's agents made him much happier. It meant he had a way to contact her.

"And I don't mind if you 'test' the guy I was dating to see if he's worthy of me," she continued. It would serve the idiot right, having to deal with assassins.

Considering how protective he was of his favorite niece, it didn't look good for Mamoru.

Usagi was the _only_ member of the family he had actually liked and could tolerate for long periods of time. Mostly because, and this was Usagi who had said this, she didn't have 'a natural infusion of Stupid' like her father and two uncles. And that was before she included Iemitsu, who she _really_ didn't like because he was an idiot who thought giving a five year old alcohol was a good idea.

Why he thought giving her straight whiskey would go over well with her father Enrico, she had no idea. Xanxus was pretty pissed when he found out though.

On the plus side, she could call up her Flames of Wrath (and wasn't Xanxus pleased, seeing her manifest those) in seconds rather than several minutes of concentrated feminine rage. And she could access her account as a member of the Vongola family again.

She had a lot of back-allowance built up in her account. Her grandfather had kept adding to it every two weeks so he wouldn't have to deal with filling it up if and when she 'remembered' who she was.

Usagi returned to her new family (she planned to stay until college, when she could safely leave their home and visit on her vacation from Varia training) with a few new accessories.

Namely her new flower hair pins made by her uncle, and the feathers he had gotten for her.

According to him, the fact she had killed her enemy without hesitation using his old guns meant she had more than earned them, especially since she proved she had a brain under that blond hair of hers.

She vowed never to remove the three varieties of bird feathers from her hair, even if explaining why she had them was going to be a pain.

She had the feathers of an owl, a raven and a wren.

The owl and raven were two fold. The owl symbolized deception, the mystery of magic and the silent wisdom she had. The raven was to represent the 'senshi' aspect of her life (namely the shape shifting she did) and the weird magic that came with it. As for the wren, it was for the resourcefulness and the fact she had been bold enough to contact him directly and 'blackmail' him with his own weapons, and then dared to _hug_ him despite the level of killing intent leveled at her because of a bad mood.

She had all three feathers on both sides of her pony tails. It made an interesting look, but fortunately her family didn't ask once she told them it 'looked pretty'.

Considering some of the things she had been into once she hit puberty, having feathers in her hair along with new hair pins was relatively mild.

* * *

Aside from a few random "kidnappings" from her Uncle's Sun Guardian (read: major power shopping with a very enthusiastic Luss), Usagi enjoyed her 'free' vacation.

Not like Iemitsu would be able to track who used his account to fund a trip to Italy for a family of four.

The girls immediately descended on Usagi's house the second they verified she was back from vacation. And they had one extra she hadn't expected.

Chibiusa was back, and had been staying with Mamoru while they were on vacation. Apparently she had come for "Senshi training" at the suggestion of her mother... along with a rather odd weapon.

It looked like a toy gun, but Usagi immediately recognized the same 'shape' as the improved guns her uncle had given her. It was a child-sized version, and she wondered how Neo Queen Serenity managed to slip that past her husband.

Endymion certainly wouldn't have liked his daughter learning how to shoot a gun.

"How was Italy?" asked Ami.

"Are those new hair accessories?" asked Minako, eyes gleaming.

"What sort of food did they have?" asked Makoto.

"Did you bring back anything?" asked Rei.

"It was fun and I did a _lot_ of power-shopping with a new friend who might visit whenever his work permits. Yes, they are new accessories and I'm keeping the feathers but I'll change up the pins. I brought samples back for you to try out, along with gifts for everyone."

She was almost swarmed, but fortunately they had better manners than that. She promptly doled out gifts for her friends.

For Ami she got several books on the history behind certain landmarks, as well as an Italian-to-English dictionary since they didn't have any Japanese. There was also a hand-written book she had 'found' in an antique shop detailing how to use Mist Flames, not that they said so outright.

If Ami wasn't a Mist, she'd eat her 'magical wand'.

For Makoto she got a large variety of Italian sweets, as well as many, many cook books. Most of which were in English.

For Rei she got some hair accessories and a book about the various birds and the meaning behind the feathers. There was also some treats for her two crows Phobos and Deimos.

Minako had been the easiest one of all to shop for. She brought back several outfits (Luss had been more than happy to shop for another blond who was fashion conscious) and several red ribbons, as well as some cute "outfits" for the two cats.

She had no doubt Minako would happily force Artemis into many of the 'male' outfits when given a chance.

Hearing them squeal over the things she brought back, Usagi focused on a confused Chibiusa. Clearly, she had no idea that her 'future mother' would be on vacation when she arrived.

The pink haired little girl looked different than she remembered.

Her eyes were the same bright red that reminded her strongly of her favorite uncle Xanxus, but her hair was a slightly different shade of pink. It was almost like her hair was edging toward a different color from the vibrant pink it had been before.

Which meant her existence as "Endymion/Mamoru's daughter" might be up in the air, but she was still Usagi's child.

She wondered why none of the girls had commented on the fact.

Ikuko had no problems giving Chibiusa the attic, and quickly had it cleared out so she had her own room. The cover story of her being a cousin who came to live in a better school district was immediately accepted.

Though the first thing Chibiusa asked set the tone for _why_ her future self sent her daughter to the past, and it had less to do with Senshi training and more to do with unrest in the royal family.

"Why did you suddenly stop loving papa?" she asked.

Usagi paused, then looked at her. Really looked at her. She looked exhausted, frightened and confused.

"Neo Queen Serenity is about ready to kick Endymion out of the castle isn't she?" asked Usagi seriously.

Chibiusa hugged Luna P tighter, before nodding.

"That explains why she sent you here. I'm betting Crystal Tokyo won't look the same when you go home."

Usagi hugged Chibiusa.

"You can share my room until you settle in with us. I can get you started on the same 'training' I used to learn how to shoot."

Chibiusa winced.

"Mama gave me this saying it would be more effective. Papa didn't look happy about it being in my things, but he was too worried about angering mama so he didn't say anything," said Chibiusa.

"It's okay. Once things are calmer I'll explain why she had that and why she was so mad at Endymion."

Xanxus was going to flip when he found out about Chibiusa, but one look at the color of her eyes and he'd love her as much as he did Usagi.

It wasn't every day you found a small girl with bright red eyes the same shade as his. Though she was a bit more...precocious...than Usagi had been at that age.

* * *

The first real change in Sailor Moon's fighting style came when a new enemy appeared, this time attacking people and "stealing" their hearts.

She could feel from her position after delivering her "speech" that it wasn't the heart they were taking...but crystallized Dying Will Flames. On the plus side, she did solve one mystery she had about Rei that had been bugging her for years.

Rei was a Storm/Cloud mix.

Seeing the monster, everyone expected Sailor Moon to brandish her wand and attack it.

Sailor Moon took one look at the monster, remembered how well her "magic stick" fared the _last_ time they had a new enemy and decided that saving Rei was a bigger priority than the comfort level of her friends. That and now was the perfect time to find out how they felt about the threat of real violence, as opposed to the childish version they were used to.

They adjusted rather well to the mockery of fighting when they became Senshi.

She calmly waited for the fight to reach a lull, before reaching for her leg holster (Luss had given her a more "appropriate" upgrade, since she had to make do with one she stole from CEDEF) snapping open the leather holding it closed, and calmly flicking the safety off and switching the chamber to the "orange" setting on a hunch.

The monster didn't realize the danger it was in, and the girls couldn't really see what she was about to do. Thank the gods her uncle had been nice enough to create a new gun with a built in silencer.

It made killing the monster or better yet, the idiots controlling them so much easier without having to worry about the cops coming down on her because someone reported the noise.

It took several precious seconds after returning Rei's Flames to her that the girls and Tuxedo Kamen _finally_ noticed what she was putting back.

"Is that a _gun_?" said Makoto shocked.

"Since when do you have a gun? More importantly how do you still have it after transforming?!" said Minako.

Usagi thought of how to explain this, before she hit on the perfect one.

"Do you trust me not to shoot you at any point?" she asked bluntly.

Rei, who was just now coming to, looked at her oddly.

"What?" she asked, her voice weak.

"I said do you all trust me not to shoot you at any point?" she repeated.

"Of course we trust you! We're just surprised is all," said Minako.

Why wouldn't they trust Usagi?

Mamoru, however, flinched when she looked at him. Either he had some serious issues with actual weapons, or there was something else going on here.

"Every time a new enemy appears, all our old techniques are rendered ineffective. We always have to undergo some ridiculous trust exercise or other power up before we can do any actual damage! I'm sick of it, and to be honest, I'd rather put my trust in something I _know_ works than some magical stick that needs a wake-up call," said Usagi flatly.

The girls were silent, but Mamoru was becoming nervous. It was like Usagi didn't trust her own powers anymore!

"...She has a point, actually," said Ami reluctantly. The others looked at her. "Every time a new enemy appears, we always end up floundering until we 'magically' get a power up out of nowhere, and then only that new technique works until the next one comes around. Though I would still like to know where you've kept a gun and why your parents let you keep it."

Ikuko did _not_ seem the type of mother that would willingly allow guns in a house where there were children.

"They don't know I have it, and even if any of you try to tell them I do it won't help. She's cleaned my room before from top to bottom and always misses the box I kept them in."

Mist flames were so useful.

"You sound like you have training in how to shoot," said Rei. She could live with Usagi owning a gun so long as she knew _how_ to use it and not be a risk to them.

Usagi beamed at her. Clearly Rei was a bit open minded to the whole thing.

"I have, actually. There's a reason I got hooked on paint ball, and there are several places in the city where you can pay to learn how to clean and maintain a gun as well as learn how to shoot different ones. I think it's past time we upgraded our ability to fight, so the enemy doesn't catch us off guard," said Usagi.

Mamoru noticed she was looking at _him_ specifically.

"What?"

"Out of all of us, you're the weakest fighter. All you do is throw roses at monsters to startle them and possibly use a CANE of all things to fight with. It's not even a sword cane! Eventually someone could end up hurt because the monster will ignore the roses!"

He winced.

"How are we supposed to get training though? It's not like there are people we can..." started Makoto, before she noticed the smug look Usagi had. "You know someone."

"Several, actually, the trick is matching them up to what you _can_ do as opposed to what you use now."

Getting them training on how to use their Dying Will Flames would be tricky, but if they pulled it off it meant they were one step closer to accepting the secret Usagi had kept for years.

"Does this have anything to do with your guns?" asked Rei.

"Yes. I could do more than flail about and hope my attack hits, but I can't for certain reasons."

Rei stared at her.

"You mean to tell me you could _not_ be a total klutz this whole TIME?"

"Yes?"

She glared at her without heat.

"So basically if we want to fight with someone halfway competent we just have to get special training and accept something you've been hiding from us from the start?"

"If it helps, it's scary similar to why you don't talk about your dad and live with your maternal grandfather," said Usagi. Rei's glare upped a notch, mostly because she wasn't aware Usagi KNEW about that.

"Call whoever you need to for our training. Until then, I intend to take a day off," said Rei flatly.


	3. Long Overdue Talks

Mamoru was not having a good week. First had been the total shock that Usagi had a gun and worse, wasn't afraid to USE it. But that had only been the start of it.

He had been so uncomfortable about the guns that he warned Ikuko about them, and when that failed, Chibiusa.

Ikuko had gotten an odd look in her eyes before waving off his concern, and Chibiusa admitted she knew her mother kept guns secret from her father and that since she had proved herself mature enough she was allowed to finally start her own training, if only so she knew what not to do with a gun.

Usagi still had the guns, and showed a terrifying proficiency in their use. Her guns were odd and only bore a minor resemblance to the ones on the market, which made him suspect she knew someone who had them custom made for her in mind.

Which was ridiculous. Why would Usagi know someone that could create a gun just for her and not mention it? More importantly how did she know people who could train the others?

And they _were_ getting training. Ami was working with someone who also worked as a doctor, Rei was learning from a woman who gave him chills just being around her, Minako was learning from someone who called Usagi "little Moon", and Makoto was getting martial arts lessons on top of learning how to use her powers more efficiently.

But the biggest change was in his girlfriend.

Who wasn't acting like the Usagi he knew and had fallen for, and more like someone he barely recognized. There was a steel in her eyes that he wasn't sure he liked, and then there were the feathers.

She wore them everywhere. At first he had dismissed them, thinking they were some odd fad she had picked up in Italy, but after she started using a gun in the fights he was beginning to suspect they were something else. Something ominous.

And it had everything to do with the one-handed swordsman who was training Minako how to use the crystal sword she had from their trip to the Moon Kingdom.

He could tell just by looking at the man that he was a killer. An assassin.

And he looked and treated Usagi with more respect than he did Minako. Like she had 'earned' it.

He would swear he heard the man say something about "Quality", and he had a really bad feeling what that meant.

Usagi was quickly growing disenchanted with the idea of marrying the guy she had fallen for over the course of her 'battles' with the forces of evil.

At first she thought he was just upset at the sudden change of attitude from his girlfriend. Then she realized there was a deeper issue.

Mamoru, for all his ability to be a rather odd distraction for the monsters and generals alike, was afraid of actual violence. When confronted by the Varia, even someone as minimally intimidating (to everything but your wallet) at the first glance as Mammon was, he _froze_. When he was tricked into a training fight at a relatively low level, even for Varia rookies, the man had been so skittish it was a miracle he hadn't pissed them off enough to kill him.

Needless to say Xanxus was less than impressed with his niece's boyfriend. His candidacy as 'dating material' was shrinking fast, and Usagi honestly couldn't see herself continuing that relationship for much longer.

At this rate she'd sooner date Belphegor than Mamoru.

As irritating at the Prince could be, he at least didn't balk at real fighting, or killing those that threatened his girlfriend.

The deal breaker, ended up being an illusion Xanxus paid Mammon to set up to test whether it was just nerves or if Mamoru was a lost cause.

Usagi knew about the test beforehand, and she was a perfect actor when in a civilian situation. She needed a bit of training to deal with the mafia, but she could wait until summer for that.

A generic thug appeared from the short cut Usagi just "happened" to pick, and when confronted with a situation where he either defended his girlfriend or bolted to get help, Mamoru froze for exactly ten seconds before running to find the nearest phone, since his was on the charger. They were just going to the park, for crying out loud.

The "thug" scoffed in disgust.

"That was pathetic," said Mammon.

"I completely agree. You did set the illusion up so that he wouldn't find anyone within ten minutes right?"

Mammon held out a hand.

"Never mind. So how is Ami's training going?"

Shamal had given her the basics before heading back to Namimori. Fortunately Ami was a quick study, and he had given her his cell number if she had questions. So Mammon agreed to take over her training, and once she found her comfort zone (namely computers) the girl was a natural at it. Her first true magical attack was now augmented with her Flames, allowing her to disorient and disarm monsters before they realized the danger they were in.

Apparently Ami had a secret addiction to horror and science fiction movies, and drew inspiration from them. Especially movies like the one where the undead come out of the mists to kill unwary travelers.

Usagi wasn't the only one doing a double take when monsters straight out of the _Silent Hill_ and _Resident Evil_ movies started showing up whenever Mercury's mist was out.

Which, ironically, made Mercury's fan base shoot up like a rocket.

Mammon held out a hand. Usagi handed her Iemitsu's credit card...this time stolen by one of Squalo's agents when he told them why he needed it.

Apparently they weren't the only ones disgusted with Iemitsu's stupidity. If she happened to drive him to bankruptcy, then maybe Nono would finally get rid of him and the Varia wouldn't have to do so much damage control all the damn time.

Xanxus had not been pleased when he found that out.

"She is a rare delight to teach. Almost as instinctive as you were when you were younger," said Mammon. The Mist was silent, before adding one piece of information for free. "Nono has chosen Tsunayoshi as his heir. Apparently Iemitsu has yet to find out that you're active again."

Usagi scoffed.

"The Varia isn't full of complete idiots like CEDEF. I would have been shocked if that moron found out, because he would have tried to convince Nono to make me heir. Did you know that idiot actually _sealed_ his own son when he was five?"

"What."

"Tsuna manifested his Flames without training on accident when Nono was there. I was visiting with him so I heard the argument. Iemitsu convinced him to seal his son's Flames claiming that 'a civilian has no need of active flames', never mind that his particular Flame would bring bullies to him in droves and ruin his potential."

"What color?" asked Mammon, fully prepared to sell this information to Reborn.

"I want a discount on how much it would take to upgrade my Guardians with proper weapons along with training. And an upgrade to the list of languages I can learn."

"...Deal. What color?"

"Orange. He went from a sweet outgoing kid to a skittish kitten who couldn't run more than a few feet before tripping on his own shoes and his grades went to hell."

Mammon was openly smirking. Reborn would pay _gold_ for this information. It was very unlikely there was a mention of it in the reports!

 _How much would information on your newest student be worth?_ \- Viper

A few seconds later she got a reply.

 _Depends on the information and the source._

 _Eye witness on scene. Info_ WILL _affect your training of the kid._

 _...How bad?_

 _Enough that you might help in the game of bankrupting Iemitsu and training someone else in trick shots._

Reborn sent a number. Mammon shot another back, slightly higher and within moments it was wired into her account.

 _Iemitsu convinced Nono to seal his son's Flames at five, stating civilians would have no need of them. Personality took a complete turn soon after. The Flames are Orange._

She could FEEL the anger and annoyance from the reply. Reborn was definitely pissed.

 _Tell me when you want to send this 'extra' student for training._

Mammon looked at Usagi.

"When do you want the training?"

"Tell him to give me a heads up when he plans to hit Mafia Land. I can drag the girls there for a vacation and visit with Colonello to arrange a sniper and survival training at the same time."

"Efficient. I knew there was a reason I liked you," said Mammon, before sending a reply back.

Arranging the training in Mafia Land meant she wouldn't have to worry about gun control or procuring ammo, she could get some extra advice from Colonello, and she could get a vacation in at the same time.

"At least Colonello can give me advice on how to make my morning training more effective."

She had to wake up ridiculously early to get that in, and all the early morning vendors knew her by name at this point and her usual orders.

Fortunately Chibiusa liked her sleep too much to bother her, so she had two hours of privacy before returning home and crashing. There was a reason she liked to sleep through classes and did tolerably during gym, and that was it.

Hearing the sound of Mamoru returning, Usagi eventually came out, looking very disheveled. Almost like she had been assaulted while he took his time getting "help".

She looked pissed. He looked ashamed, and clearly believed she had been hurt while he ran.

"For the record, I am breaking up with you."

He flinched.

"Which means if you try to bother me again, don't expect to get any help from me if my Uncle takes offense. Real men do _not_ leave teenage girls with muggers to get help and expect it to end well," she said coldly.

Mamoru accepted her decision, before seeing a floating baby. His concern turned to anger.

"This was a trick?" he demanded.

"It was a test after you failed the _minimum_ of basic combat training. And you failed at even the smallest test of proving yourself a good husband," she said coldly.

Chibiusa went looking for her soon after. Her hair had only the barest hint of pink now, but her eyes were still firmly red.

"Papa isn't there anymore."

She looked exhausted. P-chan had called her upset, telling her the "King" had vanished and that there was an unfamiliar face on the throne next to Neo Queen Serenity. In fact there were a _lot_ of new faces in the court, and Crystal Tokyo was almost completely unrecognizable at this point.

Sailor Pluto had been openly relieved to find Chibiusa was still very much alive, but that she was undergoing some minor cosmetic changes. Diana was also being sent to the past just in case.

"I know, little one. Tell you what, how about I introduce you to someone near and dear to me that has the same eye color as you do?" she said.

Chibiusa perked up. Her eye color was relatively rare even for a place as diverse as her original home. Mama had always told her that it was likely she got it from her side of the family, because she had an uncle with the same shade.

* * *

 _The next afternoon..._

Xanxus stared at the runt next to his favorite niece. The kid had the _exact_ same shade of red eyes he did, and was holding a weird purple ball that looked identical to Usagi's pet cat.

"So who's this?"

Usagi thought of how to phrase this. Fortunately she had the perfect example to use.

"You know how the Bovino family have the ten-year bazooka? Apparently there's a Senshi who guards the gates of time, and she allowed Chibiusa to come to the past. Except she can stay a lot longer than five minutes."

Xanxus didn't need much to read between the lines of what she wasn't saying. He looked harder at the kid, who matched his intense gaze without fear.

"She's your brat, from the future?" he guessed.

"She came here for Senshi training. But I think we can do better than just teaching her how to fight in a mini skirt with a pink wand."

Xanxus grinned. Chibiusa didn't flinch when he ruffled her hair. He might look like a dragon, but he was rather fond of Usagi and therefor her kid.

"What sort of weapon can she use?"

"Mama taught me the basics of how to hold a gun and how to avoid accidentally shooting myself, but Papa used to keep her too busy to do more than that. I also wasn't allowed in the armory without her present."

"I can work with that."

"And it gives you the perfect chance to make up for missing the chance to train me in how to take out idiots who get on my nerves. Family comes first, after all," said Usagi.

Now he was really interested in the idea of training the kid. He missed training Usagi, and she was self-proficient enough that she really needed more training on trick shots than the basics.

"Why's her hair a faded pink?"

"Genetics, and reincarnations are annoying," deadpanned Usagi.

Chibiusa took to her new training regimen with Xanxus with unsurprising enthusiasm. For now she had to make due with a toy gun until they were sure she knew how to shoot a gun without accidentally jamming it, and her body was able to handle the recoil better.

Besides, it gave him plenty of time to find out what the perfect model of gun he could have made for his new niece.

He could already imagine the hilarity of her taking out targets with a bright pink gun. Luss would probably love color coordinating her uniform to her future weapon.

Within a week of dumping Mamoru permanently, Chibiusa comes across a girl that had Usagi squeal in glee.

Mainly because it meant that the last spot in her Guardians would _finally_ be filled, if the girl was willing. She wasn't above bribing another of the Arcebelano to help the girl out.

Hotaru-chan was a natural Sun Flame, if she could harness them enough to heal minor wounds like scrapes without any training!

Minako was an inverted Cloud, but she made an excellent body double because she could fake a Sky flame and looked enough like Usagi to pass a cursory inspection.

The only Guardian missing out of her set was Sun, which was ironic because Usagi was an even mixture of Sky/Sun/Mist, with minors in the rest. Just not enough to make them her secondaries.

Xanxus was still waiting to see how she manifested her Sky flames to fly.

Usagi was very, very glad that by this point the other Senshi were actually rather accepting of the fact she was a Mafia Princess.

She was still their leader, she just had a vastly different background than they expected, and she gave them a way to fight and be taken seriously without looking like idiots.

Mammon was already negotiating how much it would take for them to act as the poster girls for the Varia to boost recruitment. Or at the very least a calendar they had to approve first to boost moral/sales.

Usagi was firm on the "no bikinis or racy pictures" rule if they did a calendar. And that they would get a percentage of the sales.

She knew the prices Mammon liked the charge. She also knew the popularity of the Senshi, especially with their very...unique...uniforms.

Hence why she was haggling so fiercely, and coincidentally impressing Ami and Rei with her knowledge.

Of course Usagi really wished she could have avoided the tense conversation she had with Rei over _how_ she knew the reason why the shrine maiden lived with her maternal grandfather.

* * *

Rei and Usagi were in the shrine, alone. She had stumbled across Usagi in her early morning workout clothes and was surprised to hear from her grandfather that Usagi had added the shrine to her morning route shortly after befriending Rei.

"How do you know about my dad?"

Usagi was quiet, before she calmly said "Because I looked. When I realized I was gathering possibly Guardians around me, I knew it was a good idea to see what headaches might come if I bonded with them. Imagine my shock learning you were Representative Hino's daughter. It didn't take much to figure out why you were living here in a shrine when I started digging."

Rei was tense, and not happy at all.

"And?"

"And what? You clearly want nothing to do with him, for the same reasons I didn't hesitate to leave my own mother for one I had never met before when I faked my amnesia. The woman was an absolute menace and I still don't know why my father married her," said Usagi.

"...Want to share horror stories?" she asked quietly.

Usagi cut her run early, because she knew Rei really needed to vent to someone who understood exactly why she didn't like her father.

"My father only trots me out whenever he needs to display the 'perfect family' image to the press and win votes. He didn't even come to my mother's funeral."

"My mother kept trying to press boys on me that had mothers who would do anything to get into a respected family like mine, even if it meant getting a girl pregnant out of wedlock," admitted Usagi.

"My father used to send possible marriage proposals for me when I turn sixteen, until my grandfather threatened him with something he refused to explain."

"I faked my amnesia to get away from my family and the inevitable in-fighting, because none of my uncles outside of Xanxus was suited to be heir, and my grandfather's favorite nephew wouldn't have hesitated to make me the heir to keep his own son out of the Family business. At this point I'm labeled as a source of potential spare heirs and a last resort."

Rei relaxed around Usagi.

"I think my mother was into something, and my grandfather knew about it but helped keep it quiet."

"Ask him if he knows the Triad. Flames are often shared between family members, the closer the better. I wouldn't be shocked if your mother had Storm flames or Cloud Flames as well."

Rei looked more relaxed than Usagi had ever seen her. Like a burden had been lifted off her shoulders she didn't know she had.

"Can you protect me from my father if he finds out...?"

Usagi's smile was cold, and full of predatory intent.

"I'm the favorite niece of the head of the Varia. And Mammon can find damn near anything. Just say the word and your father will be ruined politically and financially...or if he tries anything to hurt you directly, he will be discreetly...removed. If there's one thing my Uncle Xanxus taught me before he was frozen, it was that Family comes first even if you don't like them. And you're my Storm Guardian, which makes you Family."


	4. Palace and Plotting Pranks

Usagi was not happy, and it had everything to do with a parasite she had found by accident attached to Hotaru-chan.

The reason she was unhappy (because this "Mistress 9" had nothing on Wrath Flames of Xanxus or the overwhelming purifying effect of her crystal which seemed to really channel her own Flames to a ridiculous and almost unheard of degree of Purity) was because shortly after purging said parasite with a combination effort by Xanxus and Usagi, they found the source of said parasite was none other than Hotaru's own father.

His case was much more far gone, and without Mistress 9 there to keep it in line they had the unpleasant task of ending his misery in a more permanent fashion.

About the only good thing to happen out of the mess was that she accidentally stumbled on Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune... a classic Storm and Rain respectively.

After seeing Sailor Moon take out a major monster using a gun and actual showing a spine and some idea of how to fight like a proper warrior, she had earned their reluctant respect. That was more because Uranus was rather territorial of her girlfriend and not really used to being a senshi.

Thankfully she didn't press the issue after being cowed by Xanxus.

What it all meant was that Hotaru was now an orphan, the current set of enemies were scrambling since two of their main leaders had been taken out so early, and they now had two outlying fighters ready to be called to arms if needed.

Which given the increasing proficiency to use weapons among the senshi, was more of a standby option for the really tough monsters. Tuxedo Kamen hadn't been seen in weeks and rumors were already spreading as to why.

Mammon was already arranging an "interview" with one of the many accepted "fan magazines" to explain what was going on with their favorite mini-skirted fighters and why there was no longer a male fighter in the group.

It would boost popularity (and eventual sales among the Varia and the mafia families) and it would stop ridiculous rumors from spreading.

Besides, Usagi really, _really_ wanted to sick the miser baby on whoever the hell kept coming up with those disturbing hentai doujinshi she kept finding. It was more degrading smut with a lack of any plot than a proper manga.

She had successfully managed to block a few of those from Chibiusa, because some of those horrible things involved the newest and youngest Senshi.

"Your Uncle's birthday is soon," said a voice from the window.

It was Mammon. The two had developed a cheerful rapport where Usagi paid her other people's money she had taken. Her latest acquisition came from that had Kaolinite when she briefly dropped her wallet.

She wondered when the woman would notice her credit rating going down the hole. At least now Usagi had an idea of who to perform a discreet assassination on. Maybe if she sent a strong enough message, whoever was behind this would take a hint and get lost?

With that reminder, Usagi went outside for a walk to see if she could find a gift to her uncle's taste. She almost to the shopping district when she saw him. Her mood perked up considerably when she spotted a 'baby' with vivid green hair and either a gator or a crocodile walking calmly beside him.

"Verde! I'm so pleased you could make it," she said honestly.

He pushed up his glasses.

"It's not every day you're given willing test subjects who are genuine magical girls, never mind finding someone who is living with actual cyborg parts outside the Families," he replied calmly.

He sat on her shoulder all the way to the 'headquarters' of the Varia Officers who had taken the shift to train the Senshi and have a paid mini holiday between missions.

To date, Belphegor was taking the majority of them and was acting as her 'bodyguard' during the school hours as a "transfer student". While her number of friends had dropped, the few that remained (mostly the senshi and strangely enough her lone civilian friends that seemed to be targeted at least once a month) found him to be a surprising conversationalist.

Mostly that was because Belphegor was very good at video games (particularly violent ones) and was happy to "nerd" out on them. It didn't hurt that he was a genius.

Usagi openly suspected her uncle was trying to discreetly change her apparent taste in men, never mind she had dumped Mamoru in a heartbeat the second she found out he was a particular brand of coward.

* * *

Much to her amusement, Verde hit it off not with Makoto (who shared his Flame but had a brilliance more to baking than science) but with Ami.

Usagi was sure she misheard the odd laughter coming off Verde (which sounded rather disturbingly similar to Mammon at her worst when large amounts of money were involved) when she patiently explained to him that any and all inventions that gave their skills a major upgrade would be coming out of Iemitsu's bank account. And no, she really _didn't_ care if he happened to slip things that didn't need to be into the bill because he honestly deserved worse than being sent into bankruptcy by his niece.

Iemitsu had the worst case of Stupid with a capital S she had ever seen in her life, and was a role model of what NOT to do as a person.

Xanxus had laughed himself into actual hiccups (which she quickly recorded and sold to Mammon for a very good profit) when she told him this.

"Hmph. These... transformation items are not magical at all. They seem to be Flame conduits on par with the Vongola Rings or the Arcebelano pacifiers. At the very least they could rival them," said Verde after reading his instruments.

"...Well that explains why every time I channel my Sky flame into the broach, the Purity level skyrockets and why my guns never disappear during a transformation."

There had been a minor uproar over the fact Sailor Moon was now seen toting an ACTUAL gun (mostly from the cops), but once people realized she actually _knew_ what she was doing with the weapon it mostly went down. That, and there was far less property damage done which made the people happy.

Though she had to admit, the fact she signed a few autographs while "registering" her guns to the police (which were mostly mock-ups of the real ones) had been rather amusing. At least it kept the cops from bothering her about the matter.

Not that it really mattered, Usagi carried a small armory full of guns around now, thanks to her Uncle giving her options. He found it absolutely hysterical to watch his tiny, rather feminine niece shoot at the mooks with a shotgun while her long blond hair was in a pair of twin tails.

It was mostly the way they looked at the unassuming smiling teenager...and then shit their pants when she happily used them for target practice simply because she could.

There was a reason why Belphegor behaved whenever he was in his "civilian" disguise in Usagi's home, and it wasn't because Xanxus told him to or else.

It was very hard to find someone who was that unhinged _and_ showed the genuine respect he always heard from Usagi-hime. That, and she didn't scream whenever she found another dead assassin or hit man in the alleys on her morning exercises, but rather drags him someplace to wash the majority of the blood off.

Crowns, she informed him, should not be left in such a condition just because you were too lazy to clean off the blood.

She was the only one who gave the proper respect for his crown and what it represented. Considering she was a literal reincarnated princess, this wasn't entirely surprising and made him like her even more.

"From what I can see this...Ginzuisho...is little more than a rock of unnatural purity, and quite old. The claims of this thing having supernatural or 'magical' powers might be valid, as it doesn't match any known minerals on Earth," said Verde.

He looked rather excited at the prospect, actually.

Usagi had the sudden idea of how to make Crystal Tokyo a more viable reality in a way that didn't make people mindless drones or involve Mamoru.

That, and the girls were quite eager to go back now that the place was cleaned up...mostly.

* * *

The second he realized he was on the _actual_ moon (Xanxus, Mammon and Belphegor being available to join them) Verde actually fainted.

Mammon gleefully took pictures. She was so going to blackmail him with this later.

"How in the _hell_ did people miss a freaking castle on the moon?!" said Xanxus.

"It rotates, and the Americans didn't really focus on the Sea of Serenity when they came up here. That and by the time most telescopes could actually focus properly on the moon and actually see this thing, they had moved on to the planets," said Usagi dryly.

It didn't take long for an anomaly to make itself known.

Verde was walking, more or less, when he noticed something odd. He looked at Viper, wondering if she had noticed it as well.

"What?" she demanded.

"Have you checked where your eye level is recently?"

It took her a few seconds to get what he was saying.

Normally she had to be carried by Levi or one of the taller Varia. Now she was roughly at the same height as Xanxus' knees.

"What... I'm _taller_?!"

Where the "babies" were, there were now two seven year olds. In fact the closer they got to the palace, the 'older' they were getting.

"Exactly what is this place powered with?" asked Verde seriously.

"Supposedly by the Ginzuisho. It's an 'eternal' power source after all."

By the time Verde and Viper reached the central computer, they were at their real ages, much to their delight.

It took little time for Verde to connect to the ancient machine, and sniff disparagingly at how outdated the software was. It was little wonder the Kingdom fell with these weak defenses. They clearly expected their soldiers to handle the bulk of the defense until the senshi could arrive. Instead they were caught flat footed and the entire force was wiped out in a single night because they were having a birthday party without arranging proper patrols or defenses in case of attack.

Being at peace was no excuse for such pathetic security measures.

* * *

Belphegor was staying firmly next to Usagi and Rei, examining the castle itself. Once Queen Serenity felt her daughter connect to her future self, her ghost had passed on believing that the future was firmly set in stone and that her daughter would become Queen.

He could tell from his experienced eye, that Usagi was a Crown Princess much in the same way he was Crown Prince, exiled as he was. That made her his proper equal, rather than his superior like Xanxus was.

She was sensible, not afraid of hard work, and very loyal. All the qualities he liked, with very few of the ones that would deter him from considering her worthy of being his queen.

More to the point, his superior was openly pushing the Storm Guardian towards his niece in the hopes they would end up together rather than that pathetic excuse of a prince she had been courting before.

Endymion was weak, and it was little wonder he ended up dead. He had grown up in peace and abhorred violence to the point he destroyed the stronghold of darkness and made everything worse in the long run.

Belphegor had been delighted when he heard of the test the Princess arranged... that the foolish prince had failed so spectacularly their betrothal was permanently off.

The group would return sometime before morning, and Usagi sent Mist doubles to take their place so they could sleep off their long night in the Jyuban Varia Headquarters.

Namimori was firmly neutral territory guarded by the Vongola, but Jyuban was quickly becoming Varia territory. And it would stay that way as long as Usagi held attachment to the place.

Much to the disappointment of the two Arcebelano, their return to their true ages ended the second they landed back on Earth. Still, it opened a new avenue of breaking the curse they hadn't expected.

Needless to say Verde and Viper firmly planned to stick around Jyuban now that they had a clue to how they could break their curse permanently. Once they figured out what they needed, they'd spread the word to the others.

* * *

Chibiusa felt a familiar presence behind her. She turned, and found the psychotic teen know as the Ripper Prince. The weird thing was that she felt like she knew him personally already.

It was entirely possible this teen would become the replacement for Endymion, making him her future father.

"Shishishi...how would you like to learn how to play cat's cradle, Chibi-hime?"

She raised an eyebrow, but she wasn't feeling any intent to murder her brutally. Besides she was bored and he seemed to be an interesting conversationalist.

"Sure, your highness," she replied with a curtsy.

His grin widened.

 _A few hours later..._

"Has anyone seen Chibiusa? Mama sent me to get her for dinner," said Usagi.

"She's in the Prince's room, fighting him over something," answered one of the Storms helpfully.

And hadn't that been a real trip, poking in to find the source of the Ripper Prince's loud swearing in Italian only to almost get killed from one of knives while he played a rather hard core game with the little kid and her weird ball. She was letting off some rather amusing swears of her own while trouncing him in the shooting game.

Usagi had to bite back a laugh when she saw Chibiusa crow triumphantly and the Prince sulk as she beat him again.

"Another round!" he declared, sounding thrilled to have a proper opponent.

"Sadly, she has to go home. Ikuko-kaa-san sent me to get her for dinner."

"...Tomorrow?" asked Chibiusa.

"You're on, Chibi-hime," said Belphegor, a wild grin on his face.

There was a hint of color under his bangs. It was too quick for Usagi to catch it, but the color of his eyes was the subject of much debate since he never showed them.

"Did you have fun?" asked Usagi, walking with Chibiusa back home.

"I think he's the one who replaced Endymion," she replied. Usagi nearly stopped but kept walking.

"How so?"

"He seems familiar, but in a more personal way than most of the Varia officer."

Usagi took a good long look at Chibiusa's hair, and rather than deny that such a thing was possible, said in a flat voice.

"Well he's definitely going to be a major upgrade from the last idiot I was saddled with."

Apparently the entire mess was the result of Queen Serenity wanting her daughter to marry a man she could eventually trounce all over, and subtly insuring the girl 'stumbled' across Endymion early enough during puberty and allowing plenty of opportunity for the relationship to grow naturally until the contract became finalized on her fifteenth birthday, with the wedding firmly set for her sixteenth. Considering the birth records Verde found, the birth rate was so low that it meant Princess Serenity would likely have had plenty of time to grow up before taking over her mother's full position. Apparently the aging process stopped for the Royal Family after they gave birth to their heirs.

Had she been a civilian, she would have claimed such a thing was impossible...but Usagi knew of three examples who had time stop and stay that way for decades in front of her.

(Verde, Viper and Chibiusa.)

Ergo the 'curse' wasn't a new thing, but a condition caused by certain Flame types that had been tweaked over the centuries until the Arcebelano Pacifiers were created.

Considering her previously pink hair was starting to edge more to a pale silver as if she was bleaching it in stages to the point people would forget the vibrant color it had been before, Usagi couldn't really dismiss the idea she marries Belphegor.

Again, after Endymion he would be an upgrade.

* * *

Usagi was looking at the calendar when she realized what the date was.

"Ah! Tsuna's birthday is coming up!"

Viper looked up from the business section, took a look at the calendar before snorting.

"Reborn's birthday is soon as well."

"...What day?"

The second Viper told her, she had to shake her head.

"Who would have guessed the world's best hit man had a birthday the day before my cousin's? Wait, isn't Reborn training Tsuna?"

"Knowing that ass, he'd hijack the kid's birthday for his own twisted amusement and call it training."

"That's not right! No one should have their birthday ruined like that! And with how air headed aunt Nana is, she won't even remember until he says something!" said Usagi horrified.

Viper looked over her paper at Usagi.

"What do you have planned?"

"Think Skull would teach me how to drive a bike so I can kidnap my cousin and give him a proper birthday before Reborn ruins it?"

"Probably," said Viper, before holding out a hand. Usagi handed her Iemitsu's bank card. She promptly gave the girl Skull's number.

Time for her to bring in the Cloud Arcebelano and Minako so they can plan a proper party for Tsuna. It was sure to be epic.


	5. Freedom and Parties

Her first meeting with Skull de Mort, the world's greatest stunt baby and Inverted Cloud was amusing to say the least. The second he heard _why_ she had called him (and that it would ruin one of Reborn's schemes in a way he couldn't hit Skull for later) he had been all for it and didn't hesitate to accept Verde's offer to fly him in.

Then he met Minako, and everything moved from amusing to weird and thrilling, at least in the case of the Arcebelano.

Minako had squealed when after a little prompting Skull removed his helmet. She had been in her senshi uniform and hadn't hesitated to hug the stuffing out of him without giving him any warning.

Once he got over his shock, he hugged her back...and when she set him down it took a few seconds to register that something was missing from his neck.

His pacifier had fallen off.

It took a few seconds for the shock to wear off before he realized Verde was already on him trying to figure out _what happened_.

"Fascinating. According to this, Minako-san is an almost perfect match for the pacifier's output, and _overloaded_ it to the point it couldn't drain off your Flames anymore. I wonder..."

"Does... Does this mean I'm free?" asked Skull in wonder.

"Well it means you have a reason to stick around and help us plan an epic prank on Reborn and an equally epic private party!" said Minako with fervor.

* * *

 _Two days later..._

Skull grew at an accelerated rate that had Verde practically giddy with the implications. He was at the same 'age' he had been when he was hit with the curse, and after Usagi healed the minor injury inflicted by Verde to get Skull to stay still for testing, felt more like his old self than he had in years.

Skull had a positively evil grin on his face as he got on the larger bike and had Usagi-hime behind him ready to snag Tsuna before Reborn had any idea what was going on.

Once the school let out and Tsuna was heading home (they set up a basic surveillance with Verde's help) Skull waited for him to get in sight while under Usagi's Mist. She hid the sound of the bike accelerating and they only appeared at the last split second when Usagi had to drop it long enough to grab Tsuna.

He yelped, and Usagi hid them fast enough that Reborn didn't get a good look at the bike's license plate.

By the time they slowed down and were at the booked room inside the sushi restaurant (the owner was surprisingly open to the idea when he heard who it was for and why) Tsuna was clearly in panic mode.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday Tsuna!" said Usagi, removing her helmet.

"Hwa...?"

"Reborn is enough of a jerk that he would hijack your birthday simply because he could," explained Skull. Seeing Tsuna didn't get it, he shrugged. "His birthday is the day before yours, and he's an _ass._ "

Tsuna was silent for ten seconds before he said in a dead tone that spoke of how well acquainted he had become with the "baby's" sense of humor.

"I believe you."

"So did Reborn arrange to get the seal removed, or do you still not recognize me?" asked Usagi.

"Reborn said he arranged to have it removed, but it's taking a while," he admitted.

"God Iemitsu is such an idiot," groaned Usagi. Tsuna perked up when he heard his father's name. "I'm your cousin Claire, though I go by Usagi now. I was there when your dad convinced Nono to seal your Flames because they woke up by accident when they were visiting. I was brought along since my father was busy and I couldn't stand my mother. I live in Jyuban."

Tsuna perked up at that.

"So are the rumors about actual magical girls real or..."

Usagi snickered.

"Tsuna-kun, you're in the room with the _entire_ team of Sailor Senshi," she giggled. "Now come on, let's enjoy the party!"

About an hour later, Hayato managed to track down Tsuna with Takeshi right behind him because of an off-hand comment his father made about the party room being rented for a private party.

It took exactly ten seconds for Minako to gasp and point at Gokudera in shock.

"What?" he demanded, more than a little cross.

"Are you by any chance related to Lavina Gokudera?" she asked excitedly.

Hayato stared at her.

"How in the _hell_ do you know my mother's name?"

"I love her work! It was so disappointing when she suddenly stopped playing, not to mention the accident! She could have been as great as Michiru Kaiou if she hadn't stopped!"

Considering he followed classical music, Hayato knew who she was talking about and almost preened at the open compliment to his mother, even if she was no longer alive to hear it.

It didn't take much convincing for the two Guardians to join the party, even if it meant Tsuna would likely endure Reborn's special brand of punishment for the kidnapping.

Apparently the suspicion he would hijack Tsuna's birthday simply because he could hadn't been far off the mark at all, and as Usagi had thought, Nana hadn't remembered that fact until halfway through the party.

The sting of that blow was very minor since Usagi had realized this could happen and took preemptive measures.

It was nice to know that he had cousins who weren't totally insane and actually CARED.

Oh, and who had been sending him the latest video games and the consoles to play them for his birthday and every Christmas each year. He had always thought it was Iemitsu's doing, but apparently Usagi remembered how much of an idiot his father was so she sent him gifts to cheer him up.

And no, he did not feel one bit of guilt over the fact his cousin was cheerfully sending his dad into bankruptcy.

On the plus side, Hayato might finally get a girlfriend he could stand. Minako was a huge fan of his mothers and classical music, and like him was the right hand of Usagi.

Makoto also connected with Takeshi. His passion for sushi and her passion for baking was a very good match.

* * *

 _In the Varia office, Jyuban..._

"Well?"

"Iemitsu screwed over his son but good. He was very skittish, it took far too long to calm him down about the facts, and thanks to what appears to be _multiple_ memory wipes his ability to retain information is almost shot to hell. That's on TOP of the Flame seal Nono put on him. Reborn has his work cut out."

Xanxus looked pissed. As if he needed another reason to hate the blond bastard.

"His Guardians, from what little I saw of them, at least seemed to have their head on straight though the Rain might need a reality check. His Storm is a bit of a loose cannon but his loyalty to Tsuna is unquestioned," reported Usagi. "They were also the only ones to find Tsuna within a reasonable time frame."

"Well at least they're not hopeless."

"I plan to make several trips to Namimori to bolster his confidence, but until that seal is permanently removed it will be slow going. If I see that moron again I will strangle him for the mess he left behind. It's going to take far too long to make Tsuna an acceptable Decimo at this rate," said Usagi tiredly.

"In that case I might as well test them out. See exactly how much training the brats need before they're ready to take on our world," said Xanxus.

"Let me set things up with Colonello first. Give them a chance to bond and toughen Tsuna up just a little."

Reborn could try and undo the damage, but she would be there to act as the one who kept Tsuna from breaking under the strain.

When asked by Xanxus what she wanted to do if Tsuna successfully took the mantle of Decimo, he had cackled when she cheerfully replied she would take over the Varia from him.

No way in the fiery bowels of hell was Usagi going to touch CEDEF with any length of pole until someone cleaned the place of every last bit of Iemitsu's complacency.

The current one was a joke, and the Varia had to do far too much clean up after their operations. They didn't even give Nono an _real_ idea of how badly the seal had screwed up Tsuna's life!

"I'll get the tickets, Mammon can cover for you at the school and home. I expect to see some results, little Moon."

"It's mostly refining what I've built up with my morning runs," said Usagi.

Suddenly Xanxus changed tactics, and she got a bad feeling.

"So how is the possible courtship with the Prince brat going?"

"Uncle Xanxus, I love you to the Moon and back but there is no way in _hell_ I am talking to you about my love life unless it's to discreetly send you after boyfriends to scare the hell out of them or get them to take a damn hint to get lost," she deadpanned.

Xanxus cackled.

* * *

"Holy... this place is amazing!" said Minako, eyes sparkling.

"Just so we're clear, you're only going to experience the best parts of the island if you can pass the 'test' given by Colonello to assess how much extra training you're going to need," said Usagi flatly.

"How bad are we talking about?" asked Rei.

"He's a soldier who trains rookies in how to handle combat tactics that go along with the occasional 'invasion' from the banned Families. It won't kill you, but you will be sore later if you're not in the right conditioning."

Usagi was confident she could survive, as she had been waking up at four for years to get an early morning exercise regimen out before anyone was awake enough to notice.

However Ami and Minako might have some trouble with it.

"So you're the new rookies, Kora! Verde said to expect you!"

" _Afternoon, Commander!"_ replied Usagi in Italian with a proper salute. Colonello grinned at her.

"...Is he flying on a large predatory bird?" asked Rei twitching.

"He's an Arcebelano. They're not exactly normal and they rarely follow conventional methods. But he's one of the best, so he can whip you all into shape," said Usagi.

"...Civilians?" asked Colonello.

"Their my Guardians, all from civilian backgrounds. I brought them here for proper conditioning. I mostly came to ask what I can do to improve my own routine," said Usagi.

The grin he had was vicious.

"I can work with that."

"No sharks or bees!" she said firmly.

Colonello pouted.

"...Did you just say _no sharks_?" said Minako, eyes wide as saucers.

"They have a shark area where they toss the bodies and the unlucky idiots who annoy him, but the cliffs are easy to climb if you can get a good enough grip on the right level."

"And the bees?" asked Rei, twitching.

"It's a common tactic in speed training in manga," said Usagi defensively. "And I have no idea if any of you have allergies to them."

"Remind me again why we're doing this?" asked Minako.

Usagi hooked a thumb back at the main part of the island.

"Five-star hotel with high class food and drinks, first rate entertainment, amusement parks and beaches, and world class shopping. Pass his tests, and you get a really big spending limit and very little laws about things normally restricted on the mainland," she said flatly.

"Right. Now I remember. For the shopping!" said Minako with blazing eyes.

"That's the spirit, kora!" said Colonello. He was already planning some truly evil exercises to torture...er, _train_ these girls into a proper shape for a Guardian. At least the leader seemed competent.

* * *

 _A few days later..._

"Hey Tsuna!" said Usagi, waving to the befuddled teen.

"Usagi-itoko? What are you doing here?"

"Forcing my Guardians to undergo basic conditioning and getting a vacation to boot. Colonello is really fun to train with," said Usagi with a straight face.

Then again he was one of the only people who didn't bat an eye at her 4 A. M. training schedule. Hell, he actually joined her with helpful tips since she seemed to be in a rut about it.

Reborn eyed her oddly, before an evil grin came on his face.

"How badly do your Guardians hate you?"

"They knew a shocking variety of swearing, though it finally died down after the third day," admitted Usagi with a wicked grin.

"I feel like I should know you," said Reborn.

"Enrico's daughter, the one with amnesia. Tell Nono and I _will_ send Viper after your bank accounts," said Usagi flatly.

"You make it sound like you think Viper will do it," said Reborn, like he was commenting on the weather.

"Considering Verde might have cracked how to break the Arcebelano curse with my help, and I've been paying her regularly, she might," said Usagi flatly.

Reborn and Colonello's interest is now firmly targeted on her.

"What."

"I helped Verde find a possible source of why you're stuck as infants, and there was one case of the pacifier falling off without warning. One of the Arcebelano is their actual age instead of stuck as a baby," she told them bluntly.

"WHO? And why hasn't anyone said anything about this yet?" said Colonello. This could cure Lal.

"Do you really want Checkerface to find out you're close to getting the curse broken and trying to stop it?"

The two were silent, but to have a way to break the curse after so long...

"On the plus side, it means I can finally cash in the trick shot training I asked for," said Usagi, changing the subject.

"You're the one who told Viper about the seal," said Reborn in an epiphany.

"Nono took me with him when he visited the house, and I overheard them arguing. I was quick enough to avoid them noticing I had heard the entire thing, but I knew what they had done. It was part of the reason I hid my own Flames from Nono and faked my amnesia after my father was killed. I'm not stupid," she replied.

Reborn could concede that. Anyone smart enough to do what she did to get away from a bad situation without being busted for her thievery was clearly intelligent. Enough that if she hadn't picked that route to getting away from the Family long enough to mature and become a threat she could have easily been chosen as the Decimo heir over Tsuna.

She was still a credible threat to his candidacy, as she had more Guardians, even if they were previously civilians.

"Before you get any ideas I might want to take Tsuna's place, I've always been more interested in taking over Xanxus' spot as the Varia boss since he is my favorite uncle. He's even been training me for just that, since I seem to have a knack for it."

"Why not CEDEF?" asked Reborn, somewhat relieved since she looked to be honest about that.

Usagi made a face.

"Like I would go anywhere near that place after Iemitsu's had the run of it. It's a total mess and it's ridiculous how much clean up effort the Varia has to do just to keep it from imploding because the man is an idiot," said Usagi flatly.

Reborn looked to Tsuna. The teen stares at him back with a flat expression.

"The idiot gives hard alcohol like whiskey and vodka to minors, and she was able to steal his bank information to the point she's been paying someone named Mammon off with it regularly. I'm not about to defend someone who screwed my life up to the point it's just barely making headway," he said in a dead tone.

"...You stole the head of CEDEF's bank information?"

"And Xanxus' favorite guns, and the spare keys to most of CEDEF. When I was _seven_. If that idiot can't even realize he's being robbed, then he doesn't deserve to be head of an organization that works intelligence."

Considering that information, Reborn was inclined to agree.

"Can I inform Nono to at least take a look at his bank information and get someone to record the look on his face?" he asked hopefully. Surely Lal would be happy to perform that service if he told her when it happened and how badly the fool screwed up this time.

"I want copies, and send some to Mammon. And if he tries to change his debit card I'm going to have one of Squalo's people steal it before it reaches him," she replied cheerfully. Reborn cackled.

It was almost a pity he had been sent to train Tsuna, because her sense of humor was delightful in his opinion.


	6. Meeting the Parents and Concerts

Nono, in a display that proves he has not yet lost his touch on reality (contrary to what some might think) quickly realizes the obvious after Reborn's subtle hint about checking the state of Iemitsu's personal finances.

Namely that they are on the verge of being nonexistent and his credit rating is so shitty it's not even funny.

His 'home' in Namimori is secured, because it's paid directly from the Vongola account, especially since Tsuna was the current heir to the family, but most of Iemitsu's personal money is on the verge of disappearing.

Needless to say he sparks a private investigation that has him rethinking his past decisions with his grandchildren.

Namely Claire, his first son's only daughter.

The poor girl suffered an accident and lost her memory, but more than that, she lost her ability to use Flames as well. They were a bare flicker compared to the ember they were becoming. And that woman who was her mother... she had been entirely unsympathetic to the girl's loss.

He only found out after the fact that the foolish cow had been trying to force false Guardians on his grandchild.

He had not been pleased.

He did wonder why Reborn brought up the state of Iemitsu's finances...unless he knew more than he was telling. And there was the fact Xanxus had been sending quite a few of his officers to the same general location Claire had been relocated...

The answer hit him like a brick.

Claire had been very fond of Xanxus, more than the rest of the family had been. She was also a genius, so the idea of her coming up with a plan to get away from the Family wasn't entirely impossible.

In fact the more he thought on it, he wouldn't put it past her to fake the accident to get away from the Family and her mother, only to reconnect with Xanxus first since she liked him best and knew he would keep it a secret if asked.

If he was right, then it gave him a lot of hope.

Claire was a Sky, and it meant they still had a spare heir if something happened to little Tsuna.

* * *

"Is it a bad thing that I came prepared with a Mist illusion the moment he showed up at the door?" asked Usagi to Chibiusa.

"Considering the sort of person Bel-papa is, no. The more we keep them out of our world, the better off they are," she replied flatly.

Good thing the prospect of living with Belphegor for the rest of her life wasn't one that terrified her. He was an...acquired...taste, but he knew to at least respect her in a different way from Xanxus.

Xanxus was his superior, a king in all but name or title that ruled with a stern and sometimes erratic fist. Case in point, his habit of throwing his glass at Squalo out of boredom.

Usagi was his "equal". In title, name and bloodline, and she was a female. Which made her of acceptable breeding to pursue courtship in the old ways.

After she broke the prior betrothal contract with that fool Endymion, she became fair game to those in the know. Add into the fact her heritage as a mafia princess, and that narrowed the distance between them further.

There was no reason to hide his true nature from her, and no reason why he couldn't court her openly. Hell, Xanxus flat out told him he'd rather see his favorite niece dating him than some weak trash who couldn't even react properly to a threat like the one Mammon helped Usagi create to test her betrothed.

Why Queen Serenity believed Endymion was an acceptable husband for her child was baffling. Unless she had a lack of proper options and just wanted someone to act as the sperm donor for her future grandchildren and didn't really care so long as they fit certain criteria.

Shungo seemed to like Bel well enough when he broke out the video games. Soon the two were arguing with Chibiusa and Usagi during a four-player co-op game, and Ikuko watched with fondness.

As nice as Mamoru had been, Usagi's new potential boyfriend was much easier to live with. Even if he was strange.

Mamoru always had this air about him that said when things got tough, he would balk at making the hard decisions. Besides, he was in his last years of high school while Usagi was still in middle school.

Belphegor ("Call him Bel-kun, Kaa-san.") was an odd boy who was somewhat unhinged, but he genuinely listened to and respected Usagi. He was only a year or so older than her, already had a well paying and respected job, and got along with Shungo far easier than Mamoru ever did.

Mamoru, for all his 'good' traits, had never really bothered to get to know the family and had wisely never come around to visit Usagi when her father was at home. He would have most certainly objected to the age difference and the fact Usagi had visited his apartment without a proper chaperon.

Ikuko was not an idiot. She knew that some of the times Usagi spent with her friends she had really spent with her boyfriend. Whereas Bel-kun came with a proper adult with him, even if the woman seemed a little odd and was more than happy to chat with Ikuko about the local price of groceries.

Apparently his guardian went through meat rather quickly, so Mammon-san was interested if Ikuko knew a grocery with a much more reasonable price range.

Watching the children harmlessly bicker over the game, Ikuko smiled.

Belphegor-kun was a much better boyfriend for Usagi.

* * *

"Wait, you mean to tell me you get free tickets to your own concert?" said Minako, eyes glistening.

Michiru, once she had been _properly_ introduced to the other Senshi along with her girlfriend Haruka, had been openly amused by the fact Minako loved classical music.

It wasn't like she had anyone else to give free tickets to, since Haruka automatically got a backstage pass because they were dating.

"Actually I might have someone who would enjoy the concert. His mother was a famous pianist before she died, even if she didn't play publicly for very long," said Minako.

"Oh?" said Michiru.

"Gokudera's son Hayato."

Her eyes widened.

"Gokudera as in _Lavina_ Gokudera?" she asked, shocked.

"Apparently there was a lot of issues with his father's family since he inherited her talent. I'm sure he'd enjoy coming."

"If he's any bit as good as his mother was, I'd be happy to share a stage with him. The loss of her skills was a true tragedy, even if people disliked the man she took up with," said Michiru honestly.

 _A few hours later..._

Hayato was gaping stupidly when Minako and Usagi came to visit Tsuna (and by extension his Guardians) and Minako told him what Michiru told her.

"She wants _me_ to play on the stage with her?"

"She recognized your mother's name, and said it's a real shame she didn't get to play more because people didn't like your father's family. She'll want a demonstration that you do have her talent, but she said she was willing to let you play with her if you were interested. If not, you can still have a backstage pass to chat."

"It sounds like a really big opportunity!" said Tsuna, impressed.

"I haven't played since I managed to successfully get out of that place. Bianchi did more than poison me, she poisoned any good feelings I had to playing," said Hayato.

Usagi looked pensive.

"What if you played without showing your face? Give the audience something else to focus on other than the pianist?" she suggested.

"Like what?" asked Hayato, hopeful.

"As I recall, a certain senshi has always wanted to break out into the music business, even if it was to become an idol. What better way to slowly build up a name than to join in with someone like Michiru-san on stage singing classical music like _Ave Maria_?" said Usagi.

Minako almost squealed at the idea. She had entire lists of songs she sung along to, so she could reasonably sing to them on stage.

"It would be nice to get a break from Reborn's lunacy and 'training'...at least one he can't sabotage without getting into trouble for," said Tsuna.

"I heard that," said Reborn.

"Well you do tend to spoil things like the 'vacation' Nana won to Mafia Land, Tsuna's birthday, that weird pole event at his school..." Usagi listed.

Reborn pouted.

"I'm toughening him up."

"Yes, but his confidence was almost ruined because of Iemitsu's stupidity. If he hadn't come to accept the skittish side of him as an acceptable baseline, then he might be easier to work with. And if I find out you've made a mess of things by shooting one of those special bullets at him, I will be very cross with you. This is a chance for Hayato to heal some of the damage Bianchi has caused him," said Usagi firmly.

"Why oh why couldn't I have gotten you to train instead of him?"

"Because I was smart enough to get out of dodge when the conditions were no longer favorable, thus moving my candidacy behind Tsuna's," said Usagi flatly. "I am well aware that if he does become Decimo and my 'memories' were still lost, that the most that would have happened would be that my own children would become the 'lost' heirs of the family in the event Tsuna's own line ended prematurely."

"Wait, what?" said Tsuna, looking at her with wide eyes.

Usagi refrained from rolling hers.

"If something happened to you and I was too old to safely awaken my Flames, then any children I had with Sky Flames would end up inheriting since I do have the right bloodline even if my own qualifications were lacking," explained Usagi.

"That sounds really harsh," said Minako.

"Well the rings that prove you are a legitimate heir happen to be blood locked, and with it comes certain...abilities. I can't say more because no one really filled me in on the specifics of it all, just that our bloodline has some special ability in addition to a higher number of Skies," said Usagi.

Hayato blinked.

"I'll meet with Michiru-san. My mom wouldn't have wanted my dad's stupidity from ruining the one thing we shared," said Hayato.

So long as Bianchi never showed up, he'd at least _try_.

* * *

 _The day of the concert..._

Hayato was nervous, but at least Minako would be on stage to hopefully take the majority of the attention off him. Michiru had been delighted with his playing, and Usagi's uncle had a piano he could use (for reasons he didn't really care to have explained), which allowed him to work out some of his issues before the big performance.

His side of the stage would be darkened enough to hide his face, but what he was unaware of what that once he got comfortable enough with the song selection they would slowly raise the lights so his features weren't obscured. It was sure to be an interesting performance, and best of all his Sky would be watching in the audience from the VIP section.

He took a decent gulp of his water, steeled his nerves, and walked onto the darkened stage.

Michiru waited for the signal and started playing to open up the event. She smoothly transitioned to a more 'vocal' song, which was when Minako's lights stared to brighten up. She had a really good singing voice, which complimented the piano and the violin.

By the time his side slowly lit up, he was more interested in his playing than the attention of the audience. It was...nice. He had forgotten why he loved to play, and it brought memories of his mother, the good ones back to him.

Unseen by Hayato (Reborn had made her agree to stay hidden) Bianchi was watching the entire thing.

Her half brother looked more relaxed than she had ever seen him, and contrary to what her father or his 'friends' might think, she thought his performance now was the best she had ever heard. He looked relaxed and happy for once.

Soon after the concert, Hayato got a few friendly slaps on the back from his friends.

"You were really good out there!" said Tsuna honestly. Hayato blushed with pleasure. Being praised by Tsuna meant the world to him.

"Please tell me we got that on video," said Minako, eyes sparkling.

"You'll get the first copies," said Michiru, pleased.

"That was so much fun! I had no idea it would feel that great being on stage!" said Minako.

"You have a natural singing talent, and you kept pace perfectly. No one will guess you've never been formally trained."

"How did you play this off with your manager?" asked Reborn.

"I told him I heard of some local talent that might be worth investing in. A few more concerts or performances and you will easily become household names," said Michiru.

"Considering the last batch of big-name idols that appeared out of nowhere were all monsters manipulating the fans for their energy..." Minako said dryly.

"Yes, well if you impress my manager then you won't have to worry about accidentally signing yourself over to a monster from someone you have to fight later. I've certainly never gotten that vibe from him," said Michiru.

Hayato's sixth sense kicked off, and he immediately hid from view. The reason why became obvious when Bianchi showed up, wearing a rather amusing replica of Minako's old mask as "Sailor V".

"Is Hayato here?"

"And you are?" asked Minako dangerously. If this was who she thought it was, she didn't want this woman anywhere near him, mask or not.

"I'm his sister."

"Yeah, he's down the hall, third door from the right freaking out on whether or not Tsuna liked his performance," said Usagi with a perfectly straight face that didn't reveal she was lying her ass off.

Down the hall was the reporters, who wanted more details on the "local talent" Michiru had managed to find hidden in Jyuban. Sending Bianchi their way seemed poetic justice and gave Hayato time to get out of the arena before she found him.

This was his night, and the first real step to recovering from the trauma she inflicted.

* * *

"What?" repeated Usagi dangerously.

"The half-rings are on the move," repeated Xanxus.

"Who the hell thought that was a good idea? Heir or not, Tsuna is nowhere near ready and neither are his Guardians! His _Lightning_ is a five year old, for Kami's sake!" said Usagi furious.

"I'll give you a hint, and you're going to be ready to make his life hell," said Xanxus. "The one supposedly _delivering_ the rings early is Basil."

"...I am going to kill him, slowly, painfully, and with enough knives to make even Bel impressed," deadpanned Usagi.

Basil was 'paired' with Iemitsu for reasons no one fully explained to her. She did not honestly believe the kid Harmonized with that idiot for a second.

"How do you want to play this?" asked Xanxus. He'd challenge the kid, no questions asked, but he wanted no part in making Usagi upset.

Iemitsu was already in hot water with her as it was.

"We're going to intercept the damn rings and hold them until Tsuna has some proper training. Or at the very least until his Guardians are a bit more competent. And if you see Iemitsu, feel free to geld him with your Wrath Flames," said Usagi furious.

If she saw Nono again, she was going to give the man a piece of her mind. Tsuna should have had at _least_ a year of training under his belt before they sprung this on him. If they had done this when he was sixteen, she wouldn't have objected, but he was just barely fifteen!

"I've sent Squalo to intercept the rings."


	7. Making Arrangements

Usagi is furious, and it didn't take a genius to realize why.

That damn Iemitsu. Why he thought forcing his son to take the rings this early she would never understand, but she was going to strangle him the first chance she had.

No, she'd take her normal guns and start shooting him in the ass!

She was silently fuming the entire time she drove to Namimori, thankful Skull had taught her how after they accidentally released his part of the Arcobelano curse.

Verde was still trying to figure out the trigger, if only to release the rest of them.

As she pulled up to the Sawada house, Tsuna was firmly in panic mode. She tossed a rock up to his window, alerting him to her presence.

Within minutes they're far from the party and away from Iemitsu.

"I am going to strangle your father," she announced flatly.

"I'll help. They just sprung this on me without any warning, and that silver haired guy nearly killed us!" said Tsuna.

"Long hair, even longer sword, Voi?" she asked. He nodded. She pulled out her phone and texted her uncle. "He's being dealt with. Apparently they had Dino bring the real ones, so Basil was hurt for nothing. Want me to deal with your father and find out who's bright idea this was? You shouldn't have received the rings until you were sixteen at _least._ "

"WHAT?!"

"Come on, if we're gone too long Reborn will send the others after you. Besides, I intend to have...words...with that idiot."

To say Iemitsu was surprised to see her there was an understatement. He didn't even defend himself fast enough when her hand lashed out lightning quick and grabbed his ear.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"You and I are going to have a very long, thorough chat and you will _not_ like what I have to say, _Iemitsu Sawada_ ," she snarled.

"Claire?!"

Usagi was snarling several manners of different languages (thank you Varia for not caring about such things) making him blush in horror.

"You're supposed to be in Jyuban!" he hissed, holding his ear.

"And you're supposed to be a _responsible father_ and a proper leader of CEDEF! I suppose we're _both_ disappointed," she hissed. "Who's idea was it to send out the rings?"

"Nono insisted," he claimed.

"Bullshit. There's no way he would have sent the rings this early unless someone convinced him it was a good idea. Not unless he actually _has_ lost his damn mind!" said Usagi furious. She twisted his ear harder.

"OW! Alright, I heard about the fight with Mukuro and his gang and thought Tsuna was ready for it!"

"For kami's sake, he's still _sealed_ you moron! Nono hasn't even come down to Japan to undo the damage you caused by sealing his Flames, and I know for a fact Reborn keeps sending reminders in his reports! You couldn't have waited for a damn _year_ before dragging him into the beginnings of the inheritance ceremony? His youngest Guardian is only _five_!" she snapped.

"Why are you here anyway Claire?"

"I faked the accident to get away from your stupidity and the actions you've lead Nono to. In case you've forgotten, I was _there_ when you sealed Tsuna. Did you really think I would stick around when Uncle Xanxus was put on ice and my father dead?" she said flatly.

Iemitsu winced.

"You are going to recollect those rings and take them back to Italy and send Nono here to undo that damn seal, or I swear to kami I will show you exactly how good I am with the guns Uncle Xanxus made for me as I send your sorry ass packing," she snarled.

"I can't, the fact they've been sent is well known by now."

Usagi glared at him. Her other hand was already texting to someone, and a confirmation ping came back.

"Well you're in luck. Seems Viper is more than happy to spread what a shitty father you are and how you've been manipulating your own son from the shadows into an early grave because of your incompetence. Unless you take those rings back _now_ , by morning everyone will know you're trying to kill your only son and the current Decimo heir before he's ready to even remotely consider taking the half rings," she informed him.

"You can't do that!"

Her smile was vicious and terrifyingly reminiscent of her great grandmother Daniela.

"The Varia has been covering your incompetence for _years_. From now on you're going to flounder and deal with the mess of your own making."

He winced, but he had no idea _how_ bad it was about to get if he didn't take the rings back.

Because Usagi did not make threats when Family was in trouble. And they were going to have to scramble to make this mess salvageable before it got worse.

* * *

Usagi's foul mood carried on to her battles with the idiots known as the "Witches Five".

They, like many others, fully expected the Senshi to remain 'pretty magical girls' during the battles, with the occasional appearance of Sailor Moon's new weapon.

But Sailor Moon was simply _not in the mood_ to deal with their crap on TOP of having to clean up after Iemitsu's stupidity, AGAIN.

To the shock of the watchers, she whipped out a machine gun and proceeded to riddle the trash monster with Flame-enhanced bullets until Mars caught the heart crystal. Her trust in Usagi was absolute to the point she KNEW the girl wouldn't fire if there was a remote chance she'd hit her.

Seeing the look on the terrified controller's face, Sailor Moon said with a flat tone...

"You picked the wrong time of the month to get on my bad side, and I'm already in a bad mood."

Most of the onlookers too it to mean that it was "that time of the month" on top of a bad day, and brushed off her behavior.

Sailor Moon and her group had always protected them before, and she never, ever used her guns if there was a risk of civilians being caught in the crossfire. She even healed the few bystanders who got hurt from the debris!

As far as the average citizen or the cops were concerned, the Sailor Senshi were some form of Magical Police who dealt with the crap they couldn't handle. Thankfully most of it stayed centered in one general area, and the Senshi were quick to arrive each time one showed up.

Usagi wasn't the only one who found this fact hilarious, since she was a mafia princess, not some magical cop.

* * *

Then her day went straight to the dump when she heard what "Nono" was going to arrange.

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Please tell me this wasn't your idea."

Xanxus grinned.

"Can you think of a better way to hammer it in that he needs to take this shit seriously than to see the brat in the hospital because of his incompetence?"

"Actually I can. It's called a Ring battle with the 'spare heir' and their guardians. At least I know Jupiter won't murder a five year old. Electrocute him a little, yes, but with little risk of him being killed. I don't think Levi has that much restraint in him," she said flatly.

Xanxus pouted, but she had a point. When it came to succession, she was ahead of him by technicality.

"If you do this then the entire underworld will know you regained your memories."

"Considering how dismal Tsuna is on first glance, perhaps a demonstration of the 'spare' would give our allies and the idiots who oppose us reason to back the hell off unless they want me ramming a Uzi down their throats," said Usagi flatly.

Xanxus let off a bark of laughter at the image.

"You set up the fake order so I'm the one fighting him, and I'll give them the heads up. We can make it so Tsuna can battle for the rings once he reaches his majority if he can't beat us," said Usagi.

Xanxus pouted.

"Not to the death?"

"We're at the head of the pack in the mafia world. Do you really want to lose a potential heir and actual Guardians to Iemitsu's stupidity?"

The fewer heirs they had to take the mantle, the weaker they would be seen to the rest of the Families. And right now they needed all the strength they would get to weather the fall out of the Varia no longer picking up the slack in keeping things in-house because of CEDEF's weakness.

Xanxus ruffled her hair. She was growing up so fast.

"Family before all, regardless of how we feel about them," he replied.

It was _only_ because Iemitsu was technically family that they had covered his ass for so long, despite Xanxus being iced.

"Ugh... I can see the homework piling up already... On second thought," her grin suddenly turned as vicious as Xanxus sometimes got when he was deprived of meat or alcohol.

"What are you up to, little Moon?"

"Hey Viper, how would you feel about giving Iemitsu a double lesson on how his arrogance and foolishness is going to cost him...?"

"You have my attention," said the Mist.

"You create illusions for me and the girls so we can 'test' Tsuna and his Guardians and hopefully keep this from spiraling out of control more than it has and in return you can drain that Idiot's bank account dry to the point he'll be lucky to get out of debt."

"Deal," said Viper without hesitation.

Xanxus cackled evilly. That was his favorite niece!

"I can't wait to see Tsuna's face when he finds out that he's not fighting the Varia in a few week's time, but the Sailor Senshi," grinned Usagi.

He laughed even harder. Giving them a few weeks mean the kid would have plenty of time to stew and freak out, only for the rug to be pulled out from under them all!

Now for her to explain what was going on and why to the girls.

* * *

"What," said Haruka, staring at Usagi in disbelief.

"The father of the current Decimo heir is going to get his son killed, and since there's no way to send the rings back without losing face we're going to have a series of one-on-one battles between Guardians, and I need Michiru-san to act as my Rain. Ami has the Mist position, despite being a mixture of both."

"What about me?"

"You're a Storm primary, but that position is already filled by Rei. Luss is getting Hotaru-chan caught up on her training in Sun flames so she can take that spot. You get to watch the expressions on their faces when they realize they're not fighting the Elite Assassin squad of the Varia, but a good chunk of the Sailor Senshi," explained Usagi.

It was ironic, but Hotaru was not only Usagi's Sun Guardian, but the one known as Sailor Saturn, the Guardian of Destruction.

Then again, you couldn't have rebirth without death, so it did make some weird sense. After she was healed by Usagi, she had dove into her Flame training with vigor. Sailor Saturn was _happy_ to have a way to fight without causing mass death and destruction, and it meant she was the team's official healer and therefor much better liked than she was before.

She would awaken if needed, but for now was content to let Hotaru train to stand by Usagi's side.

"What exactly is a 'Rain' Flame?" asked Michiru.

"The Rain Guardian's Flames promote tranquility. It can dull the senses or calm down hot heads without hurting them. In short it's like you're using your music to lull the enemy into a false sense of peace before taking them out," explained Usagi.

"And Storm?" asked Haruka, curious in spite of herself.

"Disintegration," said Usagi flatly. "The ability to de-materialize anything the fire touches, and yet without fail Storms are often the right hand of their Sky."

"What about the others?" asked Haruka, interested.

"Sun heals and promotes growth. Think of it like a switch being flipped and allowing someone to grow or have their body heal at an accelerated rate. They can also promote strength like increasing muscle ability or endurance."

Something she shameless abused with the tweaked morning workout. It was the only reason she could use such an extreme method for two straight hours and only be slightly tired.

"Lighting is the one that takes the hit. Sort of like a tank in a game. Their Flames harden, allowing them to take damage and keep on coming, drawing enemy fire and allowing their Sky to remain unharmed."

And hadn't that been an interesting discussion for Makoto. She always wondered why her punches and kicks hurt more than any of the other students in her martial arts class when she was a kid. Turned out she had been hardening her body instinctively for years.

"Clouds have the ability to multiply. Say you have a single chain link of five chains. Cloud Flames would allow you to make something like a lasso or even trip an enemy by using cat's cradle. They're also one of the hardest to get, since most are aloof and despise being bound. Caging one is an almost certain way to anger them."

Unless they were inverted, like Skull and Minako were. They were social creatures.

"Mists are illusionists, their ability one of the most common as it is creation. Psychic abilities aren't exactly rare these days. They can ensnare the mind and befuddle the senses, and the best ones can create things that didn't exist before like mystical creatures and have them remain solid."

"And the last one?" asked Michiru, fascinated.

"The last and rarest of the Flames. The Sky. Skies are almost universally worshiped and treasured to the point that people would literally _kill_ to acquire one. Their ability is Harmony."

"Harmony?" repeated Haruka.

"The ability to bring the diverse Flame types and different personalities together into a single unit. The best example I can give is someone like King Arthur or Jeanne of Arc," said Usagi.

"So what is your Flame type?" asked Michiru.

"Sky, Sun and Mist, in a fairly even mixture. I've dabbled with the others, but those three are my Primaries. So will you at least consent to giving Takeshi a run for his money? You don't have to do anything more than beat him up a little, since we've successfully made them believe they'll be facing Uncle Xanxus and the Varia and not the Senshi."

And she was so going to enjoy the look on their faces when _that_ came out. Belphegor and Viper were going to be recording every minute of their shock.

Usagi was already making Mist bracelets to keep up the illusion until the last second.

It should prove hilarious.

"Well it would be interesting to see what that side of the world is like. And you did at least ask politely," said Michiru thoughtful.

"There won't be any danger, right?"

"Again, I'm doing this to keep my cousin alive and his Guardians more or less intact. There's no way I'm letting my uncle fight them, because one of Tsuna's Guardian's is a five year old with a weird bazooka," said Usagi.

"...Let me get this straight. Your cousin's father is sending him to fight what he thinks is the head of an elite assassin squad...and one of his fighters is still a _baby_?" said Haruka horrified.

"If Lambo-chan had been ten years older, I would have let Xanxus rough him up a little, but I have open doubts about Levi's restraint. Hence why we're going to fake it and rough them up instead of sending them in."

"We're in. No way are we letting a five year old fight a trained assassin with restraint issues," said Haruka firmly. The very thought of it made her sick.

"I might be a mafia princess, but I do have morals. Allowing a child to be killed because of an adult's stupidity regarding his son is not something I would let happen."


	8. Ring Battles and Nono

Xanxus made good on his threat, and made the order vague enough that Reborn didn't catch the real opponent. He was just surprised the Varia was giving them two weeks to train.

Tsuna, after realizing Usagi was right in that his dad's incompetence was going to get him killed prematurely, promptly chose to stay in Gokudera's apartment rather than go home. He refused to speak to a man who started this mess in the first place and was openly going to let a five year old get killed!

Poor Lambo thought this was still a game, but he was put through some last minute training anyway.

It wouldn't make much a difference, but at least they tried.

When the day arrived that they had to fight, Tsuna felt sick to his stomach. This wasn't right! They were nowhere near ready to deal with this nonsense! Even Reborn admitted that Iemitsu had jumped the gun when he sent Basil to deliver the rings!

Reborn, who was the most Spartan tutor he had ever met, was saying that this was far too soon for him to handle! And he was supposed to fight Xanxus over a tacky piece of jewelry?

He wanted to throw up.

The first battle wasn't too bad. Luss was a tough fighter, but Onii-san managed to beat him by the skin of his teeth. There was something off about the man, but he ignored it.

Then came the Lightning battle. Tsuna wanted to stop Lambo from going into the ring, but it was out of his hands. Levi was going to kill him and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

And then a miracle happened, one that had Reborn of all people flabbergasted.

In the middle of the fight, when Fifteen year old Lambo was fighting the monster, a massive bolt of lightning hit Levi directly... and without warning the 'image' of the man flickered and shattered, revealing...

"Is that Sailor _Jupiter_?" said Takeshi staring in disbelief.

Tsuna had an epiphany.

"Reborn, what were the orders about the battle again?"

Reborn pulled them out and read them with a Leon-headlight.

"You are to fight the next heir in a series of one on one battles between Guardians..." he read, before he caught on.

Tsuna laughed in open relief, almost crying.

"Usagi must have known this was going to happen, so she set up a prank on us," he said, deliriously relieved. Lambo was going to _live_. He would likely be banged up quite a bit, but at least he knew Sailor Jupiter wouldn't kill him!

"Xanxus" smirked wickedly.

"Well I suppose there's no need to keep up the charade now," 'he' claimed.

The images of the terrifying Varia flickered and died as they removed bracelets to reveal all the Senshi.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded the judges.

"The orders clearly state that he is to fight the next heir in line. Because of the coup and the fact she has 'regained' her memories and has Useful Sky Flames, the next heir in line to the title of Decimo is Claire Vongola, currently known as Usagi Tsukino," said Reborn.

"I'm also a Mist and I gave them bracelets to play a minor prank. This is still a Guardian battle."

The judges didn't look happy, but outside of a minor illusion on their appearances, there was no real interference.

Lambo looked openly relieved to be fighting Jupiter, as he didn't fancy fighting Levi.

She still kicked his ass, but she didn't continue once Lambo was down for the count. She even gave Tsuna the kid back.

"Your dad is an idiot for setting this mess up," she informed him.

"No argument from me on that point," replied Tsuna, hugging Lambo tightly.

He was bruised and out cold, but he was alive and not in intensive care, which was the best they could have hoped for if he fought Levi.

* * *

The Storm Guardian battle was interesting. Sailor Mars kept setting Gokudera's bombs on fire, thus making them explode too early even if he tried to throw them. And thanks to a pair of special ear plugs (courtesy of Usagi who knew how he preferred to fight) her hearing was spared for the most part.

Usagi still wasn't very pleased with whoever the hell came up with these ridiculous 'tests' meant to push the Guardians further. Hurricane force winds in a school? Who came up with this crap outside of Reborn?!

(Elsewhere, Byakuran sneezed hard enough to send his marshmallows flying everywhere.)

In the end she won because he ran out of bombs before the time limit was up, and she still had her fire arrows. Not to mention the talismans.

Uranus was very, very glad she wasn't the Storm Guardian. She only had one attack as she didn't have much experience calling on her Flames.

Despite the fact she awakened them so late, it seemed that the Senshi were naturally inclined to call on their Flames early and kept them at a low burn until their first transformation.

She would have been a sitting duck if she fought the kid.

It was during the Rain battle that Usagi became incensed.

"Exactly who came up with these...traps... for the Guardian battles?" she demanded of the judges.

Having the room fill up with water was not acceptable. She had promised her Guardians that this was mostly a way for them to test Tsuna's group, not something that could get them killed!

"We're not at liberty to say," said the judge.

Usagi was _pissed_.

"Not my idea," she tells Tsuna firmly.

"I know, if it were then you wouldn't have done it in a school that is going to need repairs and dealing with a pissed off Hibari-san," said Tsuna tiredly.

"...I'll have Uncle Xanxus deliver Iemitsu to Hibari-san with the express permission to explain his displeasure at the school being ruined because he insisted on jumping the gun," said Usagi.

"Would you like a recording?" asked Tsuna civilly.

"This the same idiot who gave the ring to a five year old expecting you to be fighting assassins?" asked Haruka. Tsuna nodded. "Think this Hibari kid would like some help?"

"You could always ask," said Tsuna.

Usagi made her intentions clear. She was only doing this to see if Tsuna could handle the rings in the first place, and if not he still had a chance to win them back in three years.

She would much rather run the Varia than the Vongola.

At least he had someone in his crazy family he could lean on and not have to deal with a lot of nonsense. His father was bad enough!

In the end Takeshi won, but he also scared off the shark long enough to help Neptune get out of there. Haruka was less than pleased and it showed.

The second the judges protested, she made her displeasure known.

"Hands away from my girlfriend," she growled, her red Flames curling around her like a furious cat.

"Uranus and Neptune are dating? That's... hot," said Onii-san.

Gokudera, who knew very well Venus was Minako, slapped him. Takeshi wasn't far behind.

It did not help he had a crush on Minako after she started helping him get over his Bianchi-related trauma. Or that she shared a few of his hobbies like classical music and video games.

* * *

Sailor Venus eyed Hibari warily. This guy freaked her out.

"Why am I fighting the carnivore again?" she asked, just barely avoiding a whine.

"Because Iemitsu is a moron and will need a reminder to stay out of his son's life if he's going to do stupid things," replied Usagi in a deadpan voice.

"Right. Put me on the list for the beat down then," said Venus, giving Hibari a look. She had her chain out but she was under no illusion what was about to happen.

She was going to get her ass kicked royally.

Hibari didn't pull any punches, but he at least didn't take out his irritation on her.

Finding out he was at the top of the list to beat up Tsuna's Stupid father for damaging the school soothed his mood and made him a bit happier. Herbivores who made those kind of mistakes deserved to be bitten.

The fact said little lion planned to record it and sell tickets via another "fake" baby just made his day.

The Sky battle was interesting. The Flames that matched the Primo versus the Moon Princess and her guns. More so was the fact Usagi had finally figured out how to fly using her Sky Flames through a pair of massive wings, which made her look like an avenging angel.

Luna and Artemis were shocked and slightly worried. How were they supposed to insure the Princess received her proper kingdom and titles if she kept changing like this?

It didn't help that neither feline adviser liked Belphegor all that much, or the 'test' that Endymion had failed that the Princess had set up herself.

Considering what the test involved, and despite being perfectly safe the entire time, Luna was hard pressed to come up with a good reason for Endymion's actions.

It left her wondering how things could have been if Endymion hadn't turned out to be a coward hiding under that dashing prince appearance of his. No wonder his generals turned on him.

Sailor Moon was grinning in a way very similar to her Uncle, and even Tsuna admitted she was a very good sparing partner. She didn't try to cave his head in, but she also didn't back down or give an inch.

Eventually he managed to win against his favorite cousin, thus earning the right to wear the ring.

Iemitsu was still going to get his ass kicked though.

* * *

Usagi was nervous and for good reason. Nono was _finally_ making his way to Japan, both to undo the seal and to meet with his last heirs. She didn't know how he would react to the knowledge she had deliberately done her best to leave the Family after Xanxus was iced.

Following her cousin into the hotel, she was confronted with a familiar face near some rather pretty decorations.

" _Grandfather!"_ she blurted out in Italian.

"Jii-san!" came Tsuna's own surprised yelp.

Nono smiled.

Usagi let him speak to Tsuna first, as his training schedule would have to be sped up, again.

Iemitsu was still in a healing coma in the Iron Fort, as his punishment meant that no Sun would heal him outside of the bare minimum to keep his sorry ass alive. As Usagi had put it when he looked to her for mercy, the Vongola _should_ have standards and forcing a five year old to fight to the death fell so far short of them that it was unacceptable even in the barest sense.

Seeing Lambo's angry look in his direction was more than enough condemnation for him. While he didn't understand why the bigger kids were so angry with Tsuna's papa, he knew that the man had set him up to be really, really hurt and hadn't thought twice about it.

Having him ruffle her hair like Xanxus did made something in her relax.

"I'm sorry you felt it was necessary to go to such extremes, my little Claire," said Nono.

"If you hadn't listened so much to that Idiot, things might have turned differently. He never liked Uncle Xanxus," said Usagi.

Nono looked old and tired, but being around Usagi usually had certain effects around those she cared about. In his case it was like a burden was being lifted off his shoulders he didn't realize he had.

"I heard you hijacked the Ring battles with your...friends."

"For the record, I had very little say in how the uniforms looked. The cat just handed me a broach and told me how to use it, and the next thing I know I'm fighting with my Flames in a mini skirt."

Thank the moon Luss was able to get the Senshi matching shorts. It was ridiculous how often they flashed someone before they had access to Flame-resistant clothing.

Only items specially treated for that sort of abuse stayed around after the transformation hit.

"I'm proud of you, Claire. You would have made your great grandmother very proud if she were alive today."

Usagi had loved Daniela, even if they had only met each other once or twice before her death.

"Perhaps the two of you will be able to carry on the Vongola family together. You seem to make real strides as a team rather than by yourselves."

Case in point, the way they relaxed and gave their all once they found out they were fighting the Senshi and not the Varia. While some of their team would need a few tweaking before they were able to fight, the results spoke for themselves.

At least if he went through with this plan he didn't have to worry about any in-fighting between them. Claire idolized Xanxus too much and had little interest in CEDEF, and Tsuna was growing up to be a fine Decimo heir.

And while splitting the inheritance was unusual, it had happened before. So long as they were in agreement on who lead what, no one would complain too much. If they did, he was certain Xanxus would happily set the dissenters straight.

At least Xanxus did one good thing, and that was to instill the importance of keeping the Family together and strong. For all his faults, the man's loyalty to the Family had never once wavered.

Tsuna's seal was lifted, and he could only hope things went to normal. Especially since Usagi was given the secondary Varia ring to acknowledge her preference to take over the organization rather than fight Tsuna for the title of Decimo.

He couldn't help but feel as thought his favorite cousin had a much greater title awaiting her, one that would help him change the Vongola to what it had started as, rather than the mess it was today.

* * *

It was supposed to be a calm day, with Lambo annoying the hell out of Reborn.

Usagi had recently dealt a permanent blow against whoever was causing trouble, _again_ , although it had required a lot of headaches and the awakening of Sailor Saturn and the arrival of Sailor Pluto.

She had no idea what Pluto's Flame type was, and considering her job she wasn't going to ask. It was probably better to keep her out of the whole mafia issue because the Ten Year Bazooka was bad enough.

The only reason Pluto tolerated the existence of the blasted thing was because A, the effects were so temporary that any information gained from it was haphazard at best and was only good for quick trips and B, because apparently it wasn't _just_ the future it was drawing on but multiple realities. Which meant that the info was to be taken with a great deal of skepticism and a healthy dose of salt.

It's only real use at this point was to give Lambo a fighting chance to do his job as Guardian in the present since he was the youngest by a full decade.

So naturally when Lambo sets off the bazooka (which had become regarded as more of a nuisance than anything) and it somehow hits REBORN, Tsuna didn't think much of it.

Except five minutes later, Reborn hasn't returned and his ten-year-older self never made an appearance.

And that makes Tsuna panic. His first thought is to make Lambo use the bazooka on him, but then common sense kicks in.

Usagi has been to the future before (albeit the very, very distant future) and Chibiusa is from that future. Which means if anyone has an idea of what to do, it's them.

He manages to get out a single text to his cousin (one explaining that Reborn has been hit with Lambo's bazooka and is now MIA) before he's suddenly hit as well.

His cell phone is firmly left behind, but the reply text would have given him some hope.

It is later returned to him when Gokudera is the next one sent, as he is determined to return the phone to his Boss.

* * *

 _With Setsuna..._

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR COUSIN AND HIS TUTOR ARE STUCK IN THE FUTURE?!"

Usagi and Chibiusa had covered their ears the second Usagi explained what happened to the reincarnated Guardian of Time. Obviously that had been a smart move.

"Lambo hit Reborn with his annoying bazooka which switches places with your ten year older self for five minutes, and not only did the older Reborn fail to appear, but he never returned after the time limit was up. Tsuna only just sent me a text and I haven't gotten a single reply back after he told me Reborn was MIA," said Usagi patiently.

Setsuna took deep breaths. She had known about that particular nuisance, but until now it was more of a headache she was forced to deal with since the damage was so minimal it wasn't worth bothering with.

However the chances of Tsuna accidentally erasing himself because the bazooka was apparently malfunctioning was something she was not in the mood to deal with.

"Get whatever you need for a long trip, and I'll try to locate them."

It shouldn't be too hard, this Tsuna was touched with the lingering effects of the Ginzuisho from Usagi healing him and there was one Arcebelano who was no longer an infant running around.

It took her a few hours, more than enough time for Usagi to gear up with Chibiusa at her side.

This Chibiusa was vastly different from the one who she had half-raised. For one thing she was clearly turning into Belphegor's daughter, right down to the fascination with knives and the pale blond hair.

The only familiar thing was the eyes, which remained a vibrant red similar to the Varia leader.

If Usagi couldn't retrieve Tsuna within a few days, she would consider sending the rest of the Senshi after her. Or at least the inner court.

With a flash of light and no little amount of exhaustion on her end, Sailor Pluto sent the two Moons to the future Tsuna and his group had somehow gotten stuck in.


	9. Future Portents

"Ow... Pluto _really_ needs to work on the landings," said Usagi.

"Agreed," said Chibiusa, before pausing to ask "Is the ground moving?"

"I'm not the ground! Get off!" shouted Hayato.

"Sorry. Pluto doesn't know how to land people when sending them through time," said Usagi.

"You came!" said Tsuna, openly relieved.

"How in the hell did you manage to land on top of them if you time traveled?" asked their guide.

Usagi recognized the woman immediately. The flame scar and hair were pretty distinctive.

"Hi Lal! Colonello's description of you was spot on. Please tell me Iemitsu is still around so I can deliver yet another epic beat down when I get annoyed."

"He's dead."

"Damn."

"So are all the other Arcobelano save for the Sky," said Lal without hesitation, though it was clear she was still hurting from the loss of one in particular.

Usagi hugged her without hesitation.

"I'm sorry. When we find out what caused this I promise you I'll do everything in my power to keep Colonello alive. We're still trying to figure out how to break the curse since Skull was a bit of an accident."

"Oh, he's still alive. They only needed the pacifiers, but since the others are still tied to them..."

Usagi hugged her again, and Lal kept it that way for ten more seconds before letting go.

"So where are we heading?"

"The secret base."

"Uh-huh. So who did the boys end up with at the end? I want to know if my match making scheme to avoid the future Chibiusa originally came from works out."

Rei she could understand not getting married, since she clearly was like Haruka and Michiru, but Minako? The Senshi that ruled over love?

No way in hell did that make sense. Usagi wanted her friends to be _happy_.

"Unfortunately due to certain reasons I can't say who they end up with. All I know was that they were recently put on ice using the power of the Decimo's Flames to avoid certain issues."

"In other words he put them into a coma expecting us to show up after Tsuna, meaning the girls are going to be arriving sometime within the day or so," translated Usagi.

"Wait, what?" said Tsuna.

"Hayato-kun, you weren't around Lambo when you were hit, right?"

"I was in my apartment, getting ready in case we found out where the Jyudaime was. I had his phone in my pocket."

"Which means someone else is sending your Guardians here, and to avoid accidentally canceling each other out, the 'future' version of us has to be removed without killing them. Ergo, they're around here somewhere suspended out of time. Trust me, there is an issue of canceling each other out," said Usagi wincing.

"Really?" said Hayato, fascinated.

"Mama started to fade out from being near her future self for too long, so they had to send her back with the others before she disappeared," said Chibiusa.

"Mama?" Hayato repeated.

Chibiusa looked pointed at Usagi.

"There's a reason her name is Chibiusa, and it's not because her name happens to be Usagi as well," she deadpanned.

"I thought it was pretty obvious she's your daughter. I mean you look almost alike and she's too young to be your sister," said Tsuna nodding.

"Really?" said Hayato eagerly. "Do aliens exist?"

"Yes and they're really annoying and bossy. Hayato, you do realize all the Sailor Senshi are technically _reincarnated_ alien princesses from the past right?"

Tsuna groaned. He forgot Hayato had a weird fascination with aliens for some strange reason.

"We'll talk as we walk to the base. I would like to be in a secure location before the girls arrive just in case. And before I forget, here," she said, handing Tsuna a gun.

He gingerly held it, until Usagi got annoyed with him and showed him how to hold it properly.

"When we get to the base I am showing you how to properly hold and shoot a damn gun. Your fists are fine and all, but it never hurts to have a back up," said Usagi.

Lal watched with approval.

"I'll help the bomber boy with his sniping. _He_ said the kid had potential to be good at it."

Usagi made sure her weapons were in full view as they walked to the base. They set up a perimeter with Lal's help, since Usagi had never done that before.

* * *

"Usagi-hime, what are you doing here?" demanded Reborn. He was sure whatever sent the boys here wouldn't go as far as Jyuban.

"Sailor Pluto who governs time sent us when she heard that you two were stuck. She was not happy," explained Chibiusa.

"...If she governs time, then why hasn't she confiscated or destroyed the bazooka yet?" asked Reborn almost challenging.

"Too little damage. Five minutes isn't a lot of time to share information to the past, and that's if you're ready for it. There's also the fact it doesn't draw on just one future timeline, but one out of a possibility of many, thus muddying the waters even further and rendering most information that could be shared rather dubious," explained Chibiusa.

"When she sent Chibiusa, it was from a set time line that I aborted by dumping Mamoru and going back to my roots, hence why her hair color is changing to blond instead of the bright pink it was before," said Usagi.

Reborn was silent.

"What about the paradox issue?"

"According to Lal, the Senshi were put on ice beforehand likely in response to our arrival. You'll know if we're spending too much time here pretty quick," said Usagi dryly. "You'll feel weakness in your body followed by fading out."

"You speak as if you have experience."

"She does," said Chibiusa.

"So what exactly is in the bag?" asked Reborn.

"Clothes, necessary items, and weapons," said Usagi without hesitation.

"And by necessary..."

"Do you really need to ask? If you're that curious ask Lal," said Usagi bluntly.

Tsuna took one look at his cousin and blushed. Obviously Usagi was expecting trouble, so she must have packed feminine supplies among other things.

"That reminds me, Reborn, why haven't you at least drilled basic gun safety into his head yet?" asked Usagi.

"No time, thanks to that idiot."

"Mind if I get him started on basic shooting and marksmanship?"

"Only if you don't mind me watching to see your style."

"Hie!"

"No shooting at Tsuna. The last thing we need is an accident because your teaching style caused him to misfire a gun," said Usagi flatly.

Reborn had a put upon look on his face, but agreed. Considering Tsuna was _still_ clumsy, it was better not to press his luck around guns.

* * *

 _In the shooting range..._

"Where did you learn how to shoot, Usagi-hime?" asked Takeshi.

"Why does everyone call me hime anyway?" she asked.

"Because it sounds better than Usagi-chan. Besides, you act like a responsible princess anyway," grinned Takeshi.

"Makoto-chan would be interested to hear that," grinned Usagi. Takeshi blushed.

Ever since he saw Sailor Jupiter in the flesh fighting Lambo, he had developed a major crush on her. It didn't help Makoto came to his dad's restaurant and successfully defended the kitchen from Bianchi while she made all the desserts. Her baking was on par with his father's sushi.

That, and his dad liked her well enough to give his seal of approval.

Hayato openly snickered. Takeshi grinned at him.

"Like you're one to talk. You have a crush on Minako-chan," said Takeshi.

"Shut up you idiot!"

Usagi was grinning evilly now too.

"If you think your potential love lives are funny, wait till you hear who Ami-chan has a crush on. I still have no idea how they ran into each other," said Usagi.

Which was a lie. Ami had been watching the battles and had developed an interest in one of the Guardians. So Usagi convinced (read: tricked) her into delivering the video to his favorite spot and they hit it off over horror movies of all things.

Everyone looked at Usagi expectantly.

"Sailor Mercury like Kyouya Hibari."

Seeing their reactions, Reborn was quick to take a picture. It was hilarious.

"EH?! She likes that psycho?!" said Hayato horrified.

"Poor Ami-chan..."

"Don't discredit my Mist Guardian so casually. Ami-chan is a huge fan of horror movies and when I asked her to deliver the video to Hibari's little hide out in the reception room they hit it off. It doesn't hurt that she's a Rain on top of her Mist Flames. Besides, she's too nice for him to want to bite her to death," said Usagi grinning.

Hibari mostly liked Ami because while she could handle crowds, she was more inclined to peaceful areas like libraries and calm parks. Her Rain Flames gave off a tranquil feeling and her love of horror just interested him.

In short, she was the only girl Kyouya could stand being around for long periods because she wouldn't talk his ear off, liked quiet places, and happened to like the same genre he did.

Usagi still found it hilarious that the two had opened up a conversation on the differences between herbivores, carnivores and their "human" equivalents according to Hibari's senses. Then again if he hadn't called her a "herbivore" to her face she wouldn't have started the conversation in the first place.

"LOOK OUT!"

There was a loud crash, and Usagi and Tsuna were buried under several girls and their overnight bags courtesy of Luss.

Each bag was optimized for packing long trips and each had the symbol of the Varia stitched on the side along with the planetary symbol they represented, and the color matched their Flame types.

"Why does Pluto have this issue with the landings?" groaned Usagi.

"I think P-chan just likes to give people a reason to avoid bugging her for trips," said Chibiusa.

Hearing Luna P chirp with amusement, Usagi was sure there was another reason. Setsuna must have developed a trolling habit at some point and decided this was the perfect way to get the urge out of her system. It would make far too much sense.

"Ow. So what happened?"

"According to Lal Mirch (said woman gave a polite bow to the girls) one of the mafia families with the ability to see into all the alternate futures is on a power trip and is abusing his family gift to basically ruin the future. Probably why Sailor Pluto didn't have a problem sending us to ten years ahead to help fix the problem so she wouldn't have to," said Usagi.

"What about the paradox issue?" asked Rei seriously.

"How long have you been here Tsuna?" asked Usagi.

"A few days at least."

"My guess is that whatever is causing them to be stuck here has removed their future selves from the time line, thus giving us a bit of leeway to fix the issue before we can go home."

"And Chibiusa?" asked Rei.

"Automatic protection since I technically don't exist yet. While I am Usagi's future daughter, because my father is currently up for debate I'm considered an anomaly until Usagi has her first child," said Chibiusa.

Translation: my existence is up for debate until Usagi makes up her mind on who her future king is and has a child, therefor there is no issue of paradox involved.

If this had still been her original future/present, then there might have been a problem, but Chibiusa was only able to exist because Usagi would eventually marry and her first child would automatically be a daughter.

"Can this kid even fight?" asked Lal Mirch.

Chibiusa glared at her, then her bangs hid half of her face as she grinned evilly and drew a _lot_ of knives from out of nowhere with a sinister laugh.

Lal and Hayato shuddered.

She took one look at their faces and her snickering turned really evil.

"Bel-papa was right, it _is_ fun to troll the peasantry," said Chibiusa grinning.

"I just had a really, really evil thought of what would happen if we sent Chibiusa to bond with Belphegor of this time. She still has issues with her aim and we're going to have enough trouble getting Tsuna's Guardians up to par," said Usagi snickering.

"Too dangerous," said Lal. "Byakuran would find her and try something."

Chibiusa rolled her eyes.

"Like the jackets Luss insisted we wear everywhere once he had them ordered?" asked Chibiusa.

"What jackets?" asked Lal.

"They finally came in?" asked Tsuna at the same time.

"Tada! I got yours too, figured since I'd be seeing you soon anyway I might as well deliver them," said Usagi, pulling out several jackets.

Hayato eagerly put his on, and grinned when he saw it.

It was a bright red with a pair of dynamite sticks on the back with the name "Smoking Bomb" written in curvy Italian, and on the breast pocket was the crest of the Vongola Storm Guardian.

Takeshi's coat was a cool blue, and his had a katana crossed with a baseball bat, and the crest of the Vongola Storm Guardian.

Tsuna's jacket was a burning orange color, and had the Vongola Crest firmly on the back with a rather fancy looking "X". He also had what he had been told was a Sky Lion on the breast pocket rather than a crest. A _baby_ sky lion.

Even Reborn wasn't spared. Luss had "help" from Viper, who took great glee in creating the jacket. It had a bright yellow pacifier on the breast pocket and a giant target on the back.

And if one were to look closer at the inside of the jacket, 'someone' had left a "cheery" message which basically stated he was "Skull's Bitch".

It was obvious Reborn had yet to find _that_ surprise because he was still wearing it. You could tell Skull was in for it, because he managed to hijack Reborn's jacket.

"USAGI-HIME!"

There was a purple blur that nearly knocked her over. Closer inspection revealed a chibified Skull.

 _"What's up with the lackey?"_ asked Reborn in Italian.

" _Skull has developed a deep respect for Usagi-hime, to the point he's now her second Cloud Guardian in the event Minako-san is unavailable. He's more like a purple-colored puppy around her,_ " said Lal.

" _So basically he went from lackey to Usagi's personal bitch,"_ said Reborn.

Lal shrugged, though that did hit the nail on the head. Skull was entirely too eager to follow orders when it was Usagi giving them, a fact she took extreme care of because he was much like Hayato in that regard.

On the plus side, the Future Usagi and her scouts could now give Haruka a run for her money on the racing circuit.

"SOOO CUTE! But wait, I thought your pacifier was removed?" said Usagi, hugging him.

Skull pouted.

"That jerk Byakuran sent thugs that stole the pacifier, but since I'm no longer connect to it I was able to revive and come straight to Hime."

"So basically you lost and came crying to Usagi-hime like a dog," said Reborn.

"Quiet you. So because of the fact he stole your pacifier, you shrunk again?"

"More portable this way though," said Skull.

"True. Hey, you changed the highlights of your hair! It looks good!" said Usagi.

"It does! It totally suits you!" said Minako cheerfully.

"That being said, all girls will _only_ share the baths or showers with other girls. No boys, even if they are infant-sized."

"EH!?"

"Let's face it, infant body or not, they're still adults in infant form. It wouldn't be proper."

"Wait, Reborn and Skull are adults?!"

"Adult men. It's just the curse that keeps them trapped in baby form, and it's the same for all the others," said Usagi.

"It's true. You have no idea how frustrating it is to be in love with someone and both of you are stuck in the bodies of infants..." said Lal.

Minako looked to Usagi.

"Who was she in love with?"

Usagi had an evil grin on her face.

"Hey Lal, how about you teach the girls the same thing you taught your little protege? I'm sure you'd like to expand on what he started in Mafia Land~!"

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Usagi-hime," said Reborn, grinning openly.

He remembered the sheer amount of swearing the girls let out when they got through with Colonello's training.

Lal grinned evilly and Minako had a baaaad feeling about this...


	10. Family Bonding

"I hate to tell you this, Usagi-hime, but your Cloud Guardian is..." started Lal.

"Give me two minutes to set something up and you'll see a vast improvement."

 _Two minutes later..._

"Oh My Gosh, are those limited edition high heels from a famous designer on _sale?_ " said Usagi loudly.

"WHERE?!" shouted a suddenly energized Minako.

She took one look at the shoes, then disappeared in a Minako-shaped dust cloud.

"Come to Mama!" she cackled.

Lal stared at her, then at Usagi.

"I had to bribe her with a large spending limit on Mafia Land to get her to get through even half of Colonello's training regimen for absolute rookies from civilian backgrounds. She damn near bought out half the clothing stores and haggled the shop keepers to death," said Usagi sagely.

She stared even more.

"How the hell did Colonello survive that?"

"Easy. I told him I'd buy him as many sweets as he wanted and would spare him from being turned into a dress up dummy for a fifteen year old fashion addicted blond. She kept commenting on how 'cute' he was and wanting to hug him when I first introduced them."

Lal's mouth twitched upwards.

"Really now."

"Chibiusa, the video please."

"Okay Mama," said Chibiusa grinning. Soon Lal was laughing her ass off at the put upon expression Colonello had on his face. It only got worse when Usagi "sacrificed" him to the shopping demon that was Minako in an effort to make him look even more "adorable".

"Oh god, you have to share these with me!"

"I wonder how much your past self would pay for copies?"

Lal snickered evilly.

Within minutes Lal had a new wallpaper.

"So I heard you were giving training to the Decimo brat. Tell me the truth, how bad is he?"

"I got him started the same way I did. Paint ball. It's a good starter for civilians to get used to shooting without the risk of killing anyone if there's a misfire... well, at least it's a lesser risk anyway. Once he got over the paint balls, he's actually somewhat decent. The others seem to have taken to it a little quicker, though Chibiusa has taken to sparring with Takeshi. I had no idea she had sword training...though come to think of it she does spend a lot of time with Squalo."

"You didn't answer the question."

"He's getting better. It helped that I'm not letting Reborn...encourage...him."

Lal snorted.

"It also helps with the fact I told him he doesn't _have_ to shoot people. It's just a tool meant to help deal with problems that can't be solved peacefully."

"That's the perfect attitude to have towards a gun!"

"I know, right? My ex kept looking at my collection that Uncle Xanxus has been helping me update like it was the devil or something!" said Usagi shaking her head.

Guns were only dangerous in the hands of idiots, drunks, or noobs. In the hands of someone with training it was nothing more than a tool to get things done.

Usagi carried a gun with her everywhere, now that she wasn't pretending to be something she abhorred. Plus it was an excellent exercise for her Mist flames, as Viper could attest. No proper assassin or mafia princess, in this case, would go without a weapon!

Usagi was armed to the teeth, and her Guardians were slowly acquiring the same habits once they got the appropriate sheaths and holsters. Ones that were made specifically with concealing Mist Flames, even if it was a total nightmare paying Mammon off for them. Only certain fabrics took the Mist Flames without recharging, and she was rather expensive.

Too bad Iemitsu's account was almost in the red.

Lal grinned.

"How bad did the girls cuss you out when they found out the training you were forcing them to do with _him_?" asked Lal.

"Once they got over the worst of it, since none of them had an absurd training ritual like I did, they could see results in their teamwork and power levels. It didn't hurt that they saw me doing the harder ones while they were still on the basics, or that I had bribed them with three days on Mafia Land with an absurd spending limit. We snagged Colonello on the last day while he was despairing over how they could have been so much better if they weren't so obsessed with silly things. I would have sent you pictures immediately after, but I didn't want Iemitsu finding out I was active so early," said Usagi.

Lal grinned.

"You should have seen him pout! I think Falco was laughing his feathered ass off when he realized what we were doing to him! I know Reborn did, even if he was roped into it last minute too!"

"Share!" said Lal grinning evilly. Reborn as a dress up doll for girly teenage females! She had to see that!

Usagi grinned. She had gotten some serious leeway with Viper when she took these and shared them, never mind the upgrades Verde gave her for free when he realized what he was looking at. She never thought she would see him laugh that hard ever.

Reborn had a foreboding feeling, one that only grew worse when he saw what they were looking at.

Dammit, there went his credibility if Tsuna saw _any_ of that. Reborn might do cosplay, but some of the outfits Minako and the others had tricked him into had been positively _adorable_ and more for small children who didn't know the humiliation they were in for.

And Colonello, damn him, had been laughing his blond ass off from Usagi's lap as he kept sending out "recommendations" that would go with Reborn's "sunny personality" which Usagi-hime insisted on taking multiple pictures of.

Evil.

* * *

Lal observed Rei Hino with an odd expression. At first the girl ignored it admirably, but eventually it got on her nerves.

"Is there some particular reason you're so intent on watching me?" she asked crossly.

"Just wondering whether or not your grandfather told you about your mother's family yet."

"He's being unusually cagey, and refuses to tell me what he said to make that man back off."

"Did you know you have a cousin among the Vongola Guardians?" asked Lal.

"What."

Lal had an evil grin on her face.

"You're a Storm/Cloud mix, right? Well as it turned out you came by it honestly because your mother's brother is a Storm, and your cousin is Tsuna's Cloud Guardian Hibari."

"Hibari as in the strong, silent one that Ami has a crush on? That Hibari?" she asked dumbfounded.

"Believe me, he was just as shocked when he found out about his cousin is Sailor Mars."

Kyouya hated crowding and preferred quiet shrines in general. Rei hated liars and was an active Shrine Maiden who didn't really have an active social life.

Once the two had confirmed their relation, Rei mostly just asked of his attentions to Ami before letting him do his own thing. So long as he kept his violence outside of shrine grounds, or at least didn't leave any dead on sacred ground what he did was not her business.

Though it was mostly because Kyouya happened to become instant friends with Phobos and Deimos, the two birds that lived in the Shrine that acted as Rei's only pets.

"So Usagi wasn't kidding when she told me to ask about the Triads."

"Fon was an affiliate member of the Triads, but he is not officially a member of any Familigia," said Lal.

Rei would reserve judgment on whether or not to ask him for some training in how to use her Flames until she met her cousin Kyouya.

* * *

Chibiusa mostly stayed for a few days before heading to Italy. Lal was concerned about the main family, and Chibiusa wanted to see what Belphegor was like in the future. It would be inevitable that the Varia would send someone to Namimori, so she could hitch a ride with them later if need be.

Besides, she really needed someone to help her improve her aim with her knives and Belphegor had been teaching her how to use his wire trick before they left.

She managed to reach the headquarters in a day, mostly because she could use Luna P and her own skills to get there. Except Xanxus and the others were occupying another castle at the moment.

Annoyed, she stole a bike and started driving towards that general location.

Several hours later, and two pauses to refill the tank, she found herself surrounded.

"You picked the wrong time to be driving on this strip of road, little girl," sneered one man. She merely glanced at the crest before she ignored him.

What did she have to care about some random mook?

"And you picked the wrong girl to bother. I'm looking for Belphegor and Xanxus," said Chibiusa bluntly.

"Why don't you go home to your mama, little girl," said another. He wore the red of the Storm division.

Her flat look could have melted ice.

The first one to touch her lost a hand.

"Shishishi... I thought I sensed a little rabbit in the territory," snickered a familiar voice.

"Hello Bel-papa."

"...Bel-papa?" repeated the Storm guy. His expression looked positively horrified.

"Shishishi... the Boss will be happy to see you, Little Rabbit."

"Considering Mama said I could come and train with you while she's off torture... I mean training Tsuna in how to fight properly," said Chibiusa.

Belphegor grinned.

"Oh god... I had no idea that psycho actually procreated with someone..."

Xanxus took one look at Chibiusa and smirked.

"Hello baby Moon."

Chibiusa grinned, and without hesitation jumped into a hug.

"Hi Uncle Xanxus!"

Xanxus grinned.

"You're just like your mother. The first thing she did after tricking me into bringing her to the Varia headquarters was leave Squalo in the dust and hug me."

"Shishishi..."

"So did you come to train with Belphegor or just to see us?"

"Partly to train with Bel-papa, but mostly so I wouldn't have to hear Tsuna whine. Besides, you guys are more fun to be around. You don't care about swearing around minors and enjoy the fun stuff. Do you have any idea how irritating it is to be stuck at nine for nine hundred years and still never be allowed near a liquor cabinet?" she said annoyed.

Xanxus grinned.

It was an age old complaint from Mammon. The fact they had to disguise their age because they were stuck at two despite being old enough to drink.

"Now, what the heck are these box things anyway?"

"Shishishi... Now that's something we're both going to have fun with, little Rabbit," grinned Belphegor.

He even had her Box Weapon ready, as it had been one of the specially prepared sets by Verde.

He had to make the Box Weapons and Animals of the Senshi with their powers in mind. The first ones he tried overloaded when they pushed their Flames into them. Especially Usagi-hime and her daughter.

Belphegor went into his room and brought out a Box like the one she saw Lal Mirch use, and a ring.

"Push your Dying Will Flames into this."

Chibiusa accepted the ring, and with a moment's thought created Dying Will Flames. Like her mother, she was a Sky and Sun Flame...except she had Storm Flames from her father.

There was a flare of power, as the box opened.

What stood there was a magnificent pegasus with a crystal horn that burned from her Flames. The hooves, when they struck the ground, let off a sort of mystical sound like crystals being lightly struck with something hard.

"Shishishi... of course you would end up with the horse."

"What does that mean, Bel-papa?"

"Shishishi... I forgot, you came here right before it happened. Let's just say Endymion's influence hasn't completely been erased from the Senshi's battles," said Belphegor.

Their next fight would involve a pegasus much like this one. But he couldn't tell her that.

"So how do you put them back in?"

"Let the flame wear out," said Xanxus.

The horse neighed once, before disappearing back into the box.

"I was unaware you procreated Bel-sempai," said a boy in a frog hat.

Chibiusa stared at him for five seconds before she stated in a dead tone "I have no idea who you are, but I can tell right away you are of dubious sanity and are of even less possible use than Levi-a-Than when it comes to being subtle. Please do not come near me so whatever possible stupidity inhabits you does not spread to my general area."

Belphegor blinked, before he started laughing his ass off. He literally had trouble standing and even Xanxus was holding back a smirk.

"Shishishi... He's Mammon's replacement."

"Then whoever did the hiring process needs to be shot out into space without protection for being Stupid, because he is a serious downgrade from the miser."

"You heard her frog."

"Who is this girl?" asked the 'Frog', who's name was Fran.

"My great niece and Belphegor's daughter. Annoy her at your own risk, because you will not be getting any sympathy if she uses you as target practice," said Xanxus bluntly.

* * *

 _Back in the secret base..._

"I hate you so much. You could have warned us she trained that psycho baby," said Minako groaning.

"Where's the fun in that? If it makes you feel any better Belphegor just sent me a very nice text thanking me for letting him spend time with Chibiusa. Apparently she's been improving her aim with the knives by using Mammon's replacement as target practice and to get him to shut up," said Usagi cheerfully.

"I feel like I should fear for your parenting skills, but even I admit Chibiusa is much happier and less of a brat since you got rid of Mamoru," said Rei reluctantly.

"Look at the bright side!"

"There's a bright side to you apparently hiding a psychopath streak we didn't know about?" asked Makoto dryly.

"If they can't survive a time-traveling kid spending time with her most likely father, they wouldn't be Varia Quality in the first place."

"Good point. They're assassins, they can take a little harmless target practice and father-daughter bonding from hell," said Rei nodding.

"So how did meeting Hibari from this time go?"

"Rather well actually. I'm shocked I actually have a cousin who I can tolerate for long periods of time that will openly let me crash in his house come election season and even threaten my father to go to hell," said Rei rather cheerful.

It was somewhat terrifying how quickly Hibari and Rei clicked, but then again they had a lot in common.

Besides, they both loved birds.

"On an unrelated note, I'm going to have to join Tsuna in awakening our inheritance as Vongola," said Usagi with a grimace. Reborn insisted that they do both at the same time, since if anything happened to Tsuna, Usagi would have to take the mantle and there was no point in waiting until the worst happened.

Besides, everyone knew Usagi had a greater role than _just_ being the next Decimo of the Vongola waiting for her.

Her desire to be the head of the Varia was just a back up plan.


End file.
